Mann's stylish tour de force is highly recommended

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2006)

Michael Mann has been developing his style for a while now with films like Heat, The Insider, and Ali, but whereas previous Mann films always had major flaws in them, Collateral stands out as a cut above the rest. Cinematically, it is nearly flawless. The cinematography, editing, cool metallic lighting, and terrific score (always a given in a Mann film) complement a solid, gripping script. Without giving away too much of the plot, Collateral is an outstanding study of urban alienation, loneliness, and what connects people who live parallel and yet separate lives, all beautifully wrapped up in a gripping action-thriller format. Foxx and Cruise feed off one another very well and the chemistry between them lifts the film even when the script stumbles into the occasional cliché or becomes too theatrical. On one occasion there is a rather lame attempt to get one of the criminal types in the film to deliver a Tarrantino-like monologue which is rather tiresome (only Tarrantino can write Tarrantino), and Jada Pinkett Smith's acting is flat as a pancake. There are also one or two really nagging continuity problems in the film, but then which film doesn't? On the whole these minor problems are negligible in the great scheme of things. 9/10 for this tour de force from one time video-clip director Michael Mann. Go see the film and get the superb soundtrack.