Definitely in my Top 10 best of this year...

Rating: Null/10 (4 September 2004)

It's not surprising that I would love a Michael Mann movie. Few directors know how to set a mood better than he. His characters are intelligent and introspective, and the plots, which appear formulaic from a distance, have a depth and quality that few filmmakers are able to achieve. I was immersed in the nighttime aspects of this film. It's something about how the colors and the rough camera work and editing evoke the feelings that I have while being out late in the city or even in some of my darker dreams. Michael Mann has always been able to create that mood- from all the way back in his Miami Vice days and through the incredible Heat and The Insider, he has only gotten better at his craft.
There were parts of this movie- particularly the nightclub scene as well as the final scene that had my stomach in knots and as the cliché goes, I was on the edge of my seat. Vincent is some of Tom Cruise's best work ever, and it is here where I found Cruise has a definite ability in playing dark characters. There is something menacing in his eyes, and the gray hair and suit seem to emphasize this almost exhausted and relentless drive to get the job done, even if it is killing people. He is an efficient sociopath who has a quiet, subtle charm and I found myself very much wanting to learn more about him- but this is part of the character's appeal. If more had been revealed, I feel this would have made him boring. There are certain villains out there who have this uncanny knack for bringing us over to the "dark side" and make us almost root for them. Sort of like Hannibal Lecter.
Only Vincent lacks the suave and finesse- I don't think this man has ever had a friend in his life.
Jamie Foxx is really coming into his own as a serious actor, and while I still have a hard time removing my mind from his old LaWanda skits on In Living Color, I know that Foxx is an incredible talent. I admired and felt for his character, and in particular in the club with Felix, I really started to come to respect him.
I went into the theater, expecting to see something that one would typically see in the mediocre to awful August/September offerings, and I came away completely awed, and happy to see so many people (Cruise, Foxx and Mann) at the top of their craft. Cruise is Oscar-worthy here and I hope he finally gets the gold statue he deserves.
And I can't forget Mark Ruffalo, who seems to be playing characters lightyears apart from one another these days and who delivers wonderfully here.
This is the type of movie I could watch over and over again.