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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Convincing Characters & Dialogue Work Wonders., December 26, 2004
Director Michael Mann does what he does best with "Collateral", a well-written (by Stuart Beattie), entertaining thriller that knows just when to be intense and when to be mellow. "Collateral" takes place overnight in Los Angeles. Max (Jamie Foxx), a veteran cab driver who dreams of owning a limousine service, picks up Vincent (Tom Cruise), a slick, talkative fare who offers him $600 for a night's work: 5 stops and get him to the airport by 6 a.m. Sounds good, but when a bloody corpse lands on his windshield, Max comes to the abrupt realization that Vincent is an assassin. He becomes an unwilling accomplice in a murder spree, as Vincent attempts to fulfill his professional obligations and Max tries to walk the line between thwarting a killer and saving himself.
Much of "Collateral" is distinctly mellow in tone. Low-key conversations play out over the classical music in Max's cab. This makes the bursts of action more intense and surprising. No one could call "Collateral" realistic, but the attention to detail in the characters' speech makes it seem so. I have to admire Tom Cruise for embracing villain roles at this point in his career, where other stars have shunned them or insisted on watered-down scripts. Cruise has nothing to lose by playing unlikable characters, and they will among his most memorable work. Vincent's self-possession lends him great presence and charm, while his moral bankruptcy makes him revolting. Cruise is perfect for the role. Jamie Foxx plays the film's "everyman" who rises to the occasion when circumstances demand it. He's stressed, put-upon, and trapped, and he acts it. Jada Pinkett Smith does a nice job in a supporting role as a prosecutor, Annie, who takes a ride in Max's cab, as does Mark Ruffalo as Police Detective Fanning, who suspects trouble in Max's cab after one of his informants is murdered. Great cast, great dialogue, and perfect pacing make "Collateral" an engaging, character-driven thriller that almost everyone will enjoy.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not without its charm, April 9, 2005
Collateral is the kind of movie for which the term "mixed bag" was invented. On the one hand it's an immensely entertaining watch, full of high style, expansive cinematography, and explosive action. On the other it's at times almost insultingly unrealistic, marred by contrivances, gaps in logic and one of the more implausible endings in cinematic history. In spite of its flaws it's still more than serviceable entertainment if you don't think about it too hard, and it's certainly about as good a crime thriller as you're going to get from Hollywood these days. In other words, it's worth watching, but it's certainly not anywhere near the level of Reservoir Dogs, Heat, or other recent masterpieces of its genre.
The premise is a perfect example of what's both good and bad about the movie. The idea of a top hitman getting a cab driver to chaffeur him around on his hits is an intriguing one, even if it's not all that hard to poke holes in. That any of this works at all is due largely to the efforts of directors Michael Mann and the movie's two leads, namely Tom Cruise as Vincent (the killer) and Jamie Foxx as Max (the cabbie). This movie relies far more heavily on character than most of its ilk, and the success of Foxx and Cruise in their respective roles is largely responsible for pulling it through its less-than-steller parts.
Of all the reasons to watch this movie, I can think of none more compelling than Cruise's brilliant scenery chewing in his change-of-pace bad guy role as a contract killer with a busy night ahead of him. In The Last Samurai, Cruise played a character who started in the gutter and climbed out; in Collateral, he appears to be having a great time reveling in the gutter. Cruise's Vincent is a model of amorality, the kind of character who's so delightfully malevolent that you just can't stop watching. This guy's like a more charming version of the Terminator, cutting a swath of destruction though L.A. when he's not engaging in deep conversation and dispensing nihilistic philosophy with Max. The scene where Vincent shoots, kicks, and punches his way through a crowded club to get to a hapless witness resembles something out of a John Woo movie, only with better production values.
Mann's direction is a huge plus as well. He's always shown a willingess to deviate from the standard and challenge his audience a bit (the recent Ali being a prime example), and Collateral is no exception. The tense, manic plotting is accompanied by an equal number of corresponding shifts in tone, as Mann mixes unflinching violence with striking characterization. Really, it's this emphasis on letting us get to know its two central figures that makes the movie. It's easy to miss at first, but the interactions between Max and Vincent go a lot deeper than initial appearances suggest as Vincent's personality begins to increasingly rub off on Max. It's easy to see why: Max is a nice guy but basically a doormat, stuck in a "temporary" job driving a cab for 12 years, reduced to lying to his hospitalized mother about running a limo service. Vincent may be a calculating, murderous sociopath, but he's also everything Max isn't: assertive, strong-willed, and most of all free from the petty moral and practical concerns that plague most of us on a daily basis. And in an extreme situation like the one Max is faced with, it's a lot better to be like Vincent than like, well, himself.
The first three quarters of Collateral are especially compelling, as Mann puts his two lead actors through a series of superbly executed set pieces interrupted only by the aforementioned cab scenes and a relatively gratuitous subplot that strands Mark Ruffalo (a good actor) in a rather thankless role as a cop investigating the case. Unfortunately, after building up an hour and a half worth of goodwill, Collateral suddenly turns from an atmospheric thriller with action in it to a formulaic action movie replete with ludicrous ending and accompanying hacky twist. Much of what happens before the final act is somewhat farfetched, but it's at least within the realm of possibility. On the other hand, almost nothing that occurs in the last half hour of this movie is even remotely believable. I don't want to give away too much (although others already have), but those who have seen the movie will know what I mean. The ending notwithstanding, however, if you're into crime movies Collateral should suffice for at least one viewing. You could certainly do a lot worse.
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26 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tom Cruise as a bad guy? Hell yeah!, August 17, 2004
**Warning: Spoilers ahead**
This movie surprised me. I mean it REALLY surprised me. I didn't know what to expect from this movie. Collateral shows Tom Cruise in what I believe is his first `bad guy' role and Jamie Foxx in one of his few non-comedy roles. But with its tight writing and direction, and great performances by all actors involved, Collateral is without a doubt one of the best movies of this summer, and the surprise sleeper hit of the year.
The story of Collateral revolves around an assassin named Vincent (played by Cruise) who commandeers a taxi operated by Max (played by Foxx). Vincent forces Max at gunpoint to assist him in assassinating five individuals on his hit list. However, this seemingly simple premise belies an incredibly strong story. If you want non-stop balls-to-walls action, and/or have no patience for movies that `have a lot of talking' then look somewhere else. While there are several scenes of gunplay, the core of this movie deals with the interaction between Vincent and Max.
It is true that, like in most movies, Collateral's most interesting character is the villain. Cruise's portrayal of the character is amazing. As Vincent, Cruise delivers his lines with such ease and confidence, that it's more than worthy of Oscar consideration. Vincent is a person who his incredibly calm considering the profession that he's in. He is also extremely resourceful, as shown when he pretends to be a lawyer telling off Max's boss when he (the boss) wants to take any damages done to the taxi out of Max's paycheck. Vincent also always has something sarcastic (and often funny) say to Max when he begins to criticize what Vincent has done. After Vincent kills of the first person on his list, Max asks why he would kill his victim after only just meeting him. To that, Vincent replies, `What? I should only kill people after I get to know them?'. Vincent then asks Max whether he heard about Rwanda. He goes on to tell Max thousands of people died yet `Did you join Amnesty International, Oxfam, Save the Whales, Greenpeace, or something? No. I off one fat Angelino and you throw a hissy fit.'
Max himself is also an interesting character, and is surprisingly well-played by Jamie Foxx. He tells people who get in his cab about his intentions to own a limo service and drive around famous people, yet at the same time he projects a sense that this is more of a dream than a real plan, and you feel sorry for him. His character is also one that continuously changes throughout the movie. After the first killing, Max gets scared and has no idea how to deal with Vincent. But as soon as he sees an opening, Max jumps on the opportunity to destroy Vincent's suitcase with his work inside. And when Max has to confront a powerful drug lord while posing as Vincent, he has to force himself to become as cool and collected as Vincent himself.
An interesting thing to note about this movie is, just like Michael Man's other movie Heat, Collateral likes to use a lot of the wide shots of the background. In Heat this was used to good effect to give that movie a more `epic' experience. In Collateral, this wide shot technique is used to give the viewer to stronger `feel' for the city of Los Angeles, as a bustling, busy, and warm (in terms of temperature) metropolis.
If Cruise and Foxx continue to make performances like that in Collateral, I wouldn't be surprised if one day they get an academy award. Hell it's entirely possible for them to get nominated for their roles in this movie. With so many special effect blockbusters out there this summer, Collateral bucks the trend by providing a movie that focuses on strong characters and dialogue, and a few unexpected twists, rather than relying on huge explosions. Collateral is one of the MUST SEE movies of this summer, so don't deprive yourself by not checking it out.
I give Collateral a rock-solid 8 out of 10!
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