COLLATERAL Review

"You killed him."

"No, I shot him. Bullets and the fall killed him."

Do you love Michael Mann films? How about one with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, driving all around Los Angeles for one whole night? Then we got a movie for you named Collateral. It's a high-octane, fast-paced, action thriller with a nail-biting story and a couple of terrific performances by our two leads.

The film revolves around cab driver, Max, who picks up Vincent and offers the man $600 to drive him around town. After witnessing his current fare murdering a man in cold blood, Max realizes he's an assassin. With no choice, the driver is forced into a life-or-death situation that may cost him his life if one terrible move is made.

If there's one thing Michael Mann knows best when it comes to filmmaking, it's how to create tension amongst two people having a conversation. Granted, he didn't have an official hand helping screenwriter, Stuart Beattie, on this film but he knows how to frame Vincent and Max's dialogue, without making it feel tedious. Every conversation they have has a purpose to move the story along, or allow Max to grow internally as a character. It also helps that the film has such skilled cinematographers, Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron, who capture the barren streets that showcases the audience the world our characters are inhabiting.

Speaking of which, the film's biggest selling point are the performances. Jamie Foxx earned his Academy Award nomination as he does such a great job playing a cabbie, who doesn't have the confidence or ability to take risks. As the film progresses, we see Max slowly turning into that self-assured man not just for himself, but he is forced to adapt this attitude if he wants to survive the night. Tom Cruise is also fantastic as the ruthless killer, Vincent, and he's able to use his charm that we'd see in other films, like A Few Good Men and Jerry Maguire. The key difference here is that he's playing a character who'll do anything it takes to accomplish his mission, while also being unpredictable at every turn.

The rest of the ensemble rounding out the film involve Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, Peter Berg, Jade Pinkett Smith, and Bruce McGill. All of them do a solid job in their respective roles, especially Javier Bardem. He's hardly in the film and yet he makes a lasting impression with his cold, deadpan demeanor.

Another aspect I want to give the film credit for is the pacing by film editors, Jim Miller and Paul Rubell. With their skillful hands and precise timing, they're able to help provide a good rhythm to move the story forward. Every time the film could get stale, they'd find a way to keep the momentum going.

One last aspect I want to give credit to Collateral is the lack of a setup. Typically, a film would have to establish its characters and stakes for the audience to get engaged with the story. However, films that take place over one day don't have to follow this pattern. But when they do, they would take too long to set these characters and plot points up to where I feel bored by the finale.

With Collateral, the structure is essentially one long third-act of a movie just expanded to a two-hour runtime. I appreciated that the filmmakers decided to give us little pieces of the subplot as the film progresses. Instead of having to either dump a phone book of exposition, they rely on the characters' actions and reactions to give us clues on who they are. Even the way Vincent talks with Max about adapting to certain situations, you can tell this is an ideology he's been doing his whole life.

Collateral is a solid, action thriller that's got great performances by Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. Is it my favorite film Michael Mann has ever done? Probably not, but it's an engaging film to witness. Grab a beer, order a pizza, and throw this movie on your TV. Even if you have seen it, show it to someone who hasn't, because they're going to have a fun ride with this flick!

🍿 SCORE = 81/100