Stylish film noir

Rating: 8/10 (3 October 2004)

Over-used scenes on the subway and cat and mouse in a tall office block and comparatively minor flaws in what is otherwise a superb thriller from director Michael Mann (who made the similarly evocative 'Heat'). The story revolves around a taxi driver who is pulled into the tangled web of a trained assassin, much against his will. It is shot in DVD which enables Mann to produce very rich colours at nightime - not like the garish or washed out colours that are often what you get with celluloid night time shoots. It helps to produce a visually succulent but also very lovingly portrayed Los Angeles. The scene in the jazz club is so convincing you actually feel Miles Davis was there - and the subtext about jazz as a metaphor for life is one of the gems in what is generally a very tight script (about structure - but the important thing being the spontaneous melody that lies *behind* the tune). But the over-riding impact is from Tom Cruise, playing one of his memorable characters since his cameo in Magnolia. His performance is so convincing - he could be a role model for that type of bad guy.