"COLLATERAL" Is A Rarity: A Quality Studio Film With Brains

Rating: Null/10 (8 August 2004)

Easily the best studio-financed and produced film in many a year, Michael Mann's 'Collateral' succeeds where many others have failed because it dares to take itself seriously. From the noir-drenched look of nighttime Los Angeles, the nervously graceful camera-work (cinematography that is so meticulously and lovingly executed it actually becomes a star alongside the leads), and the deeply honest work of stars Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada-Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, and even Javier Bardem (who, in a bit part, graces the film with a studied elegance), 'Collateral' is a surprise treat of the late summer dumping ground (August is normally the designated graveyard for films the studios feel will fail to attract early summer fare; perhaps 'Collateral', in its thoughtful approach, frightened some of the money-crunchers who unfortunately rule Hollywood).
There is a particularly nuanced and drawn-down performance from actor Barry Shakaba Henley that is spectacular; his hard-lived, sad, proud musician, the damned owner of a late-night jazz haunt, will resonate in your mind long after the movie has ended. He-both his role and the performance-personifies all that is right with this film (easily the best work filmmaker Michael Mann has ever done). In its late-night haze and almost classic noir structure, 'Collateral' has a pace and an elegiac manner that leads you lunging forward, yet rarely manipulated. Other films would have sped up the action and the plot points, and perhaps pushed the boundaries of reality even further ('Collateral' does have its share of 'unrealities', but they never are so far-fetched that you want to get off the ride). A good part of the success (although, as I have stated, this is a quality effort from everyone involved: actors, director, cinematographers, production designers, and so on) comes from the screenplay by Stuart Beattie (who only has the Johnny Depp vehicle 'Pirates of the Caribbean' to his credit). His writing talents ride the rails of such luminaries as Akira Kurosawa (I kept on thinking that this is something that Kurosawa easily could have written, right down to the--after all the gunplay--almost poetic final scene). You know a film is working when you don't know what will happen next, but are almost giddy with expectation.
As a film lover, I have always had problems with Michael Mann's work. He is slick and assured, to be sure, but I always thought his film-making lacked an inside (the empty-headed Pacino/De Niro crime drama 'Heat' being a perfect example). However, with 'Collateral' Mann has found a vehicle that compliments his talents (which do shine if used correctly). His sleek neo-noir has finally graduated from his 'Miami Vice' days, a show he created (the one slightly-icky remnant is the overuse of modern day rock songs, which-though few and far between--weigh the film down when they boom over the soundtrack).
Nonetheless, despite his music cue misfires and perhaps a final chase scene that goes on a hair too long, Mann should be proud of himself: he has made an accomplished work. Who knows, perhaps this a glorious first step towards a new (and until now almost mythical) hybrid: the successful marriage of studio film and film talent.