Stunning, Skillful and Chilling

Rating: 9/10 (1 February 2005)

COLLATERAL exceeded my expectations on many fronts. The filming techniques used by directer MICHAEL MANN were enough alone to intrigue me. MANN's unique camera angles, movement, lighting, music, and sound establish the unifying chilling tone existent throughout the film.
Before viewing COLLATERAL, I was aware that it had been deemed "Oscar material" (which doesn't say much, considering the quality of the vast majority films released this year). I also approached COLLATERAL with the assumption that JAMIE FOXX's cabbie character's sole function would be to serve as an excuse for TOM CRUISE's character to attract the attention and praise from the movie through overdone action sequences. I was pleasantly surprised to find strong performances from both CRUISE and FOXX in a stunning, stylistic and skillfully executed film.
JAMIE FOXX takes the role of a soft cabbie, who lies to his mother about his success in life, and is afraid to women for their numbers after intimate conversations in his cab. However as COLLATERAL progresses, FOXX's cabbie grows stronger and develops confidence and self trust.
CRUISE is Vincent; the ultra-cool stylistic hit man. He wears the shades, the suit, and the hair. He offers a chilling performance as he transforms Max's (JAMIE FOXX) life, and everyone he so-professionally executes along the way. The dialogue between CRUISE and FOXX is innovative and boasts some memorable and comic lines.
With that said COLLATERAL is a well above average thriller, with an interesting plot, characters, and some well done action and chase sequences. COLLATERAL is a good bet, well worth its 9/10.