Good Film Though The Michael Mann Flaw Strikes Again

Rating: 7/10 (27 February 2005)

As thrillers go COLLATERAL is outstanding for the most part . Michael Mann visual approach is beautiful , tense and very well paced . Tom Cruise , an actor who I've never been too keen on gives his best performance for many a year as Vince a ruthless hit-man but is overshadowed in the acting stakes by Jaime Foxx as Max the cab driver . The real star of the movie though is Stuart Beattie's screenplay because it's not very often major Hollywood studios produce something so well written that turns up the tension
!!!! SPOILERS !!!!
Throughout the movie it looks like Max is going to come to some serious harm
" Open the trunk sir "
" Is all this necessary officer "
" Just open the trunk "
Which will have the audience screaming OMG how's Max going to get out of that ? OMG they've taken Vincent's briefcase , OMG the cops think Max is Vincent , OMFG
As I said this is a film that will have the audience biting their fingers . That is until the last act where the movie loses a lot of its momentum . I wouldn't say the ending sucked it's just that Vince trying to kill the only person who knows that Max isn't Vince is a rather average and anti climatic plot twist . I also couldn't help noticing that this is a problem with most if not all of Mann's movies . THE KEEP has a ridiculous and confused ending , LAST OF THE MOHICANS and HEAT are very anti climatic with the best bits taking place in the middle of the movie and I haven't mentioned the crap endings of every single Miami VICE episode . Like everything else Mann has made the best bits ( Like the aforementioned scenes and the nightclub shoot out ) happen before the end
COLLATERAL still manages seven out of ten despite the slightly disappointing ending