Review of Collateral (2004) by Joseph R — 08 Sep 2012

In many ways Michael Mann's "Collateral " is the most frustrating kind of film one can watch. After a taunt, brilliant set up, the film ends on a note of mediocrity. Had it gone somewhere more original, "Collateral" would be an instant classic.

Still the merits of the film aren't all for naught. This dark and sometimes brutal crime drama about a hitman who crosses paths with a normal guy just trying to get home from work feels unflinchingly real, thanks in large part to its standout performances and an almost viciously lifelike digital style.

Tom Cruise is great as Vincent, a cold hearted and brutal killer who hires a cab driver named Max (Jamie Foxx) on to take him about his appointed rounds. Vincent goes through his own kind of journey in the film, and playing a dark-hearted hitman is a new direction for Cruise. He fills those devilish shoes perfectly, his gaze unflinching. No matter how much Vincent smiles, there's never laughter or joy behind his eyes. Still, this is for the most part Max's journey. He's just an average guy, driving a cab "temporarily" to fill in while he gets his own thing off the ground. He's not interested in conversation with Vincent, he doesn't really want to talk about what he has going. When Vincent presses him to find out how long he's been driving, Max confesses, "twelve years.".

On Vincent's first stop things go bad, a body falls from the window of an apartment building, and Max realizes Vincent killed him. However, Vincent isn't about to let Max back out of their arrangement and, so, with a gun often quite literally to his head, Max drives around an almost surreal vision of late-night L.A. while Vincent acts as a pay for play angel of death. Max is trapped. At first he doesn't want to tell anyone, he isn't trying to save anyone, he just wants to get through the night and get back to his crib. You've "gotta roll with it" proclaims Cruise, but Max isn't ready to roll. He doesn't have the stomach for it. The shocks for Max just keep on coming, and the movie surprises you by not shying away from frequent and savage punches to the audience's collective gut.

Max is an exhausted character - almost completely worn worn out. He doesn't want excitement good or bad, he just wants to get out. He's lived the same daily routine for years, kept alive by a dream that will ultimately never happen. Max isn't the kind of guy who acts, or reaches out for anything. He is an apathetic zombie. He just lives. Jamie Foxx captures that perfectly while at the same time making Max a likable and engaging character, the kind of guy you know could do something special if only he'd make the effort. In Foxx's hands, Max seems incredibly natural.

Michael Mann is a master when it comes to shooting in digital. Here, it gives the movie a markedly different look from anything you'll normally see. In this case though, digital works to Michael Mann's advantage, giving the highways of his beloved L.A. an almost dreamlike sharpness as Max spirals through his own kind of nightmare. Other times he uses it to give the film an immersive kind of authenticity, which emphasizes the bleak reality of Max's situation, and makes it seem all the grittier. "Collateral's" standout is the much trumpeted club scene, in which Vincent works his way with Max through a crowd to his target against the beats of a brilliantly mixed bit of music, notable in a film of pitch perfect popular and movie specific scores. Shooting in digital lets Mann make the lights of his world brighter and more brilliant. Club strobes dance across the screen, and laser lighting paints his characters with eerie definition. Seen out of a darkened office window, the lights of Los Angeles have never looked so shockingly beautiful..

"Collateral" is mostly a violently gritty character study, it has plenty of action, too. Mann has a real talent for hard hitting gunplay as realistic violence and while this obviously isn't his first attempt at it, it's certainly one of his best. Cruise is a convincing and veteran action star and picks up all of Collateral's action requirements like a real pro, perfect for a character like Vincent who is so professional in his killing it's almost become automatic. Cruise trained using live ammunition in preparation for the role of Vincent, and it shows adding more reality to a film that sometimes feels uncomfortably real. He strides purposefully through the picture, his steps never breaking as he charges towards various objectives. Vincent's approaches are creative and exciting, so while this isn't a blockbuster action flick, it can easily hold its own against anything else out there.

Overall "Collateral" is the kind of movie I would willingly watch over and over, just to pick out the little nuances in Cruise's and Foxx's performances or to watch for the moment when Max really and truly breaks. Michael Mann has created a masterful and original movie using a format which would intimidate many filmmakers, with one actor who until recently wasn't known for playing serious and challenging roles, and another who is arguably the world's biggest movie star playing completely against type. That it all fits together so wonderfully is quite an amazing accomplishment. Sadly, the film is fatally wounded by the need for coincidence to wrap things up a bit too neatly with a cliche ending. Still, "Collateral" is mostly a fresh, smart, and smooth piece of filmmaking that surpasses the hype generated by its premise.