an average movie with a sleek push forward

Rating: 7/10 (12 August 2004)

I just got out of this movie (when I wrote this comment), and I have to say that I think I've seen that kind of movie about a zillion times. Hollywood still seems to find ways to press the same issue with a high-tensity, big name cast movie featuring a way to make a well-known star (Cruise) pair up with an unlikely co-star (Foxx) and change his personality yet again. Maybe it's just me, but this is an example of poor creativity.
::Spoiler:: On the upside, Cruise's character is somewhat different (even if it utilizes his same-character personality of the cool guy with nothing too big for him) and a snappy, older (?) haircut. Foxx plays a lowly cabdriver whose love-interest is a target of Cruise's character, thus pushing Foxx to step up to his level of limit-pushing escapism. But the fact that Michael Mann tried to have you feel bad for Cruise's character in the end was propostorous.
The film featuring great music, and the LA nighttime landscapes couldn't have been depicted more accurately or more beautifully. The quality really pulled this hum-drum story along. The club scene was alright, but if you know anything about club scenes in movies, you know that no one really knows what they're dancing to or what to do, and that shows.
I liked the movie overall, despite the nit-picks. A good return for Cruise (an audience favorite) and a decent character change for Foxx.