Review of Collateral (2004) by Nesbitt10 — 07 Jul 2013

“Collateral” isn't a terribly original motion picture. However, it’s the strength of the lead performances and the stylish direction of Michael Mann that obscures the weaknesses in plotting and credibility. For the most part “Collateral” remains a sharply taut thriller but ever so gradually towards the end it tests our plausibility nerves. The movie never fails, but it never really deepens either. The story line never deviates from going somewhere unexpected, but at least it’s always satisfying.

Los Angeles cab driver Max Durocher (Foxx) lives an incredibly mundane life. He drives a cab day in and day out and has for the last twelve years. His only escape from reality is a photo of a tropical island and the fact that he wants to start his own limo company. All that changes when a government investigative attorney named Annie Ferrell (Jada P. Smith) gets in his cab from the airport. She's wound tight, getting ready for a big case the next morning, but he charms her into talking and makes a favorable impression. Immediately after dropping Annie off downtown, he picks up a fare that is known only by his first name Vincent (Cruise). Vincent offers Max a deal he can't refuse $700 for making five stops, then getting him to the airport for his flight out of LA. As the L.A.P.D. and F.B.I. begin to put the pieces together, they race to intercept the two of them. Max and Vincent's survival becomes dependent on each other, in ways neither would have imagined.

The survival-of-the-fittest, do-or-die theme eventually becomes rather one note. The amusing, exceptional first half of the film is undermined when the story races towards a prevailing, mechanical conclusion. Acting and atmosphere define the film, but there are times when style can become substance, and this is one of these instances. The performances by Cruise and Foxx are the highlights, and Mann's direction guarantees that any chance of boredom or disinterest will not materialize.