Good Acting / Troubled Production

Rating: 6/10 (15 May 2015)

The main story and players are all over the box art and the other reviews, so I'll focus on the essence of what is good and bad about Collateral.
Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, and to a lesser extent Mark Ruffalo, are the best parts about the film. Jada Pinkett Smith isn't as impressive, but she does an okay job as a sort of love interest for Foxx.
What brings the movie down amounts to a slew of embarrassing production defects. During the mid 2000s, digital filmmaking was starting to gain more traction, and Collateral was one of the first big budget films to make use of the new technology. What might have looked groundbreaking at the time looks simultaneously dated and aimless now. There are way too many shots that are unfocused or jittery for seemingly no purpose, effectively taking attention away from the above average narrative. Another issue is the laughable choice in licensed tunes; the songs aren't necessarily bad on their own but don't match up with the tone of what is on screen. There are some character inconsistencies as well but I don't want to include spoilers here.
In summary: If you focus solely on the lead actors performance and narrative, then Collateral will be an enjoyable thriller where Tom Cruise plays against type. If you prefer an engaging story that is propped up with cohesive production design, then there are better crime thrillers to see first, including ones from the same director.