Conway, AR

Rating: Null/10 (22 September 2004)

Tom Cruise's Vincent is one of the most memorable killers on film in the last decade. He and Dr. Hannibal Lecter could have a fine time discussing the nuances of their professions. In Michael Mann's Collateral, Vincent finds a sufficient foil character in cabbie named Max (Jamie Foxx), a nice guy in a nowhere job with big dreams. Max is having a nice night. He met a young district attorney (Jada Pinkett Smith) who actually finds him appealing. Then he meets Vincent and the night takes an unpleasant turn. You've seen the commercials; you know what happens next. If not, skip all reviews and see it now.
I have unfortunately only seen one other movie by Michael Mann, which was ironically the first movie to feature Hannibal Lecter, Manhunter. It's a methodical thriller, while Collateral is an emotional one. It relies more on the philosophical interactions between it's characters than it's plot. The plot only exists to showcase these characters and to reach for their cores. Max is not just a nice guy in a bad situation. It's not the 'everyman' plot that Hitchcock was so fond of. He's a man of broken dreams, who's spent 12 years in a 'temporary' job. Vincent can be defined simply as philosophical sadism. He exploits the tiniest character flaws of Max, while still maintaining a strange type of comradery with him. He's intelligent, witty, and not without more than a little charm. We're horrified we're drawn to a man who jokes about killing his father. Maybe it's because he has reasonable motivations for doing what he does that makes us so horrified, horrified enough to like him.
Jamie Foxx has developed into something special as a serious actor. Well, maybe 'developed' is the wrong word. He's just appeared out of nowhere as a great serious actor. Here is definitely his best role, even Oscar-worthy, as Max. Tom Cruise has been great for about a decade and a half. He's been on the Oscar waiting list for just as long. Maybe this year, Tom, maybe this year. Jada Pinkett Smith never impressed me before. Just as Foxx, she fits in her dramatic shoes just fine here in a role that first appears to be a nice cameo, but develops into something more. She should have more sufficient roles awaiting her after this one. Irma P. Hall is as delightful to see as always as Max's mother.
Michael Mann is a director with a gift of keeping tensions up and letting characters dictate what happens on screen, not just action, and there are plenty of nice action sets in Collateral. A great nightclub scene shows that Vincent isn't some chump as a hired gun. Mann and his screenwriter Stuart Beattie are also great at misdirection, using a detective and federal agents in what seems to be setting up for a convenient ending. Let's just say they don't work out.
Nothing is a convenient in Collateral; it's just a fast-paced character-driven thriller with no cheap thrills and very little to complain about. It doesn't take it's audience as a bunch of morons who only expect special effects extravaganzas and over-the-top characters. It's the best movie of the summer and one of the best of the year.
A