Review of Collateral (2004) by Erik P — 30 Sep 2010

You?re a cabbie. You drive around at all hours of the night looking for people- people that have places to go, things to do and people to see. It doesn?t matter what type of person they are, it?s your job as a cab driver to get them where they need to go without incident and, in exchange, you get paid. As a cab driver you carry around maybe hundreds of people per day, none of them that you really get to know. So its possible, almost likely, that some of the people who come into your cab are dangerous- and how would you know?

This film deals with just that, a hit man named Vincent (Tom Cruise) who employs the services of a cab driver named Max (Jamie Foxx) to efficiently drive him around the city of Los Angeles taking him to the locations of his 5 hits. However it doesn?t take Max long to realize what type of person Vincent truly is, and try to escape. Throughout the night it becomes clear to the police that all the victims have a commonality and when they confront Max about it, it becomes his job to keep the 5th hit alive.

The acting here is excellent, the cast of characters includes Mark Ruffalo, Jada Smith, Javier Bardem and even a small cameo by Jason Statham. But it?s the two leads that make this movie better. Most of the screen time is devoted to Cruise and Foxx and their collective chemistry is something I found to be outstanding. Tom Cruise really puts in a very sharp performance as a sociopath, hit man, who shows just enough human emotion to be creepy. Jamie Foxx is very good also, in an Oscar Nominated role, as a ignorant, innocent but quick on his feet cabbie. He plays the part with a lot of emotion and is the singular reason he is so believable.

All that was great about the acting cannot be said about the direction. I am not a great fan of Michael ?The effing? Mann because his camera work is so shaky and rickety that I cant concentrate. It always makes me wonder if it was intentional, to create a certain mood or feeling, or if it was just a poor job of directing. You can always tell a Michael Mann movie, its incredibly crisp looking, but staring for immense periods of time can cause motion sickness.

Overall I found this to be an above average film, marred with poor direction and of thrills for a thriller. What keeps this movie watchable is Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, and the interesting premise, otherwise its just your average run of the mill film.