An edge-of-your-seat thrill-ride with a soul

Rating: 10/10 (9 March 2008)

COLLATERAL is the best film of 2004! It includes what very well may be Tom Cruise's greatest film performance, and to me, that's saying a lot. He gets too much flack for his personal life and beliefs, so Hollywood pretty much hates him and is biased against him. The irony is that 20 or so years ago (when he wasn't so strange) and when he was doing critically acclaimed films like COLOR OF MONEY, RAIN MAN, and BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY, the excuse for not giving him an Oscar was that 'he was too young' or 'he made so much money so he doesn't need an Oscar, too' or 'his time will come'. Well, the time is long past. He should have won for JERRY MAGUIRE, a glaring oversight in 1996. Now EVERYONE in Hollywood makes a ton of money. For some inexplicable reason, Cruise is held up to a higher standard than a lot of stars that I believe are lesser than him talent-wise. So, now they don't have that excuse not to give him the award, so the excuse now is that 'he's a nut-job'. ...Whatever!
Cruise's performance in COLLATERAL is truly memorable and ironically underrated as he was not even nominated for Best Actor (as he should have been). It's one of the most fascinating performances of this decade so far. Cruise is totally believable and enthralling as a charming, lethal, detached, world-weary assassin. Cruise is not the only star of this film, though. Jamie Foxx is a revelation himself in COLLATERAL and he and Cruise form one of the best pairings in recent Hollywood history. Foxx gave Cruise a lot of credit for lifting his performance and Cruise immediately called Foxx to congratulate Foxx on his Best Actor nom for RAY (which COLLATERAL kind of set this up for; Foxx also got nominated Best Supporting Actor for COLLATERAL). You see, everyone doesn't hate Tom Cruise and Tom Cruise isn't the worst human being alive, folks!
OK, back to the film. Appropriately, it starts out with our introduction to Tom Cruise's character. We don't know his name yet, but he is very unique-looking (grayish hair, sunglasses, bright suit), but doesn't stand out too much. He "inadvertently" bumps into another guy at LAX, which is an excuse for them to switch bags. Then this unknown cool dude heads for downtown LA.
Max (Jamie Foxx) is an LA cab driver who is a perfectionist at his job (cab stays clean, uses the fastest/safest routes to get fares to their destination) but he has wanderlust and ideas, but fails to follow through. Max "purposely" picks up a fare Annie (Jada Pinkett-Smith in a sexy and mature performance), who is a prosecutor. Max and Annie have an interesting conversation that really sets the tone for the rest of the convos in the film. Max drops Annie off at her office building, then Cruises character arrives by subway-rail at the same time. They cross paths briefly as she goes up the escalator, him down. He ends up being Max's next fare and we learn his name is "Vincent". What do you wanna bet that's not his real name?!
Vincent needs Max to drive him around LA at 5 stops, saying that he is a salesman and has dealings with 5 "clients". He gives him $600 to do this. At the first stop, while Max is waiting, a dead body falls from the apartment complex above on Max's cab and he realizes that Vincent killed him and that he is a contract killer. From here on, Max is Vincent's prisoner and he is compelled to drive him to his destinations. The 2 men establish a kind of uneasy simpatico during the course of the rest of the film. Interestingly, both men are professional when it comes to their jobs, but Vincent has found his calling and Max has not. Vincent is focused, confident and without hesitation, while Max, personality-wise, is rather shy and under-confident. The core difference is that Vincent has a kind of charm and ease with how he deals with people but he is utterly detached from developing any deep connection with anyone, while Max is more shy, but he has the capacity to care.
There is a parallel story to Vincent and Max's, with a Latino cop Det. Fanning (excellently played by Mark Ruffalo) working with his police cronies and the FBI trying to figure out what is going on with the killings. Along for the ride are a bunch of supporting characters, some of which are basically cameo or one-scene roles, but you remember them long after you've seen the movie: the aforementioned Pinkett-Smith as Annie, Max's mother (scene-stealer Irma P. Hall), saxophone-player Daniel (exceptional work by veteran actor Barry Shabaka Henley), Vincent's employer Felix (superbly performed by Javier Bardem). Really, this cast is brilliant, all unique, believable characters.
Michael Mann directed the film and, in my opinion, this is his GREATEST accomplishment as a director. The film has an uber-cool, leisurely, atmospheric feel and tone which helps drive the story. The eclectic music in the film is perfectly placed and timed and places a unique signature for each scene. There are many great moments that stay with you long after you have seen the film. The true genius of this flick is that while the story idea/plot is 100% convoluted and unbelievable, the way that the situations play out are very realistic. A thrilling joyride of a movie that is contender for best film of the decade...THE END!