Collateral

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill
Director: Michael Mann
Writer: Stuart Beattie
Genre: Thriller/Action/Crime
Rated: MA medium level violence
Running Time: 120 Minutes

It Started Like Any Other Night

Synopsis:
Max (Jamie Foxx) has lived the mundane life of a cab driver for 12 years. The faces have come and gone from his rear-view mirror, people and places he's long since forgotten until tonight. Vincent (Tom Cruise) is a contract killer. When an offshore narcotrafficking cartel learns they are about to be indicted by a federal grand jury, they mount an operation to identify and kill the key witnesses, and the last stage is tonight. Tonight, Vincent arrives in L.A…..and five bodies are supposed to fall.

Circumstances cause Vincent to hijack Max's taxicab, and Max becomes collateral-and expendable person in the wrong place at the wrong time. Through the night Vincent forces Max to drive him to each assigned destination. And as the LAPD and FBI race to intercept them, Max and Vincent's survival becomes dependent on each other in ways neither would have imagined.

My Verdict:
Max the cab driver is obsessive. He starts another night-time shift by thoroughly cleaning his cab to immaculate levels and tells all his rides that he is cab driving only until he can get his dream limousine car business operating which won't be until he is satisfied that all his stringent requirements have been met. He is a perfectionist. One of his rides is attorney Annie Farrell (Jada Pinkett Smith) with whom he strikes a rapport, not knowing that he will be saving her life later in the evening. Then Vincent becomes just another passenger, or so he thinks. Vincent has been sent to L.A. to perform five 'hits' and so decides that he can just get Max to drive him to all his destinations. Vincent asks Max to wait while he attends to some business at his first stop, which is a common occurrence with taxicabs, but it is while waiting that a body falls from the sky and lands on Max's cab with a massive thump. And then Vincent appears. Max is a smart person, puts two and two together and realises that Vincent has just killed this person. Max wants out and fast. But Vincent needs him and it is here that the story evolves when Vincent hijacks Max and his cab. The dictionary defines collateral as "situated at the side" which is what has happened to Max the cab driver after this incident - he is now at Vincent's side for as long as Vincent deems fit.

Tom Cruise is interesting in the villainous role of Vincent. He arrives as a silver fox - the hair, stubble and suit all silver - but what was with the too short pants? He acts so smooth and calculating as a hitman, which probably comes from the years of practice, as Vincent the character and as Cruise the actor. At one stage his character goes off on a philosophical diatribe about where we all come from, which makes you wonder if that was his personal addition to the script given his Scientology beliefs. Still, he really can be a mean, cold-blooded, violent person if he wants to and is not there just for his good looks and there certainly is no love interest for him in this movie. Jamie Foxx is relatively unknown in Australia but is excellent as Max. As the night wears on he shifts his character through a range of emotions as the relationship between Max and Vincent develops, which has come to be one of the key factors of the movie. Jada Pinkett Smith is perfect as the attorney, Annie. Mark Ruffalo, is in yet another totally different role (just how many movies has he made lately?) along with Peter Berg who round out the additional 'cop' factors to the story with ease. It is worth mentioning that 'Collateral' is a violent and sometimes bloody movie.

'Collateral' is a thriller that draws closer and closer to a tense, edgy, dramatic climax. Towards the latter stages of the movie, Max has become almost a nemesis to Vincent; something that Vincent is totally unprepared for, which means the relationship dynamics keep changing - something that audiences would surely appreciate. Shot entirely at night in Los Angeles, the events take place over the course of one night and depict a seedy, underworld life where justice may just prevail.

Rating : A-

Christina Bruce