A dark, penetrating film

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2004)

Collateral has its share of flaws. The beginning is too choreographed, there are several superfluous characters that the camera spends excessive time with (cops), and finally, the plot has some annoyingly predictable elements.
This is, however, a magnificent film.
Tom Cruise is a stylish but experienced hit-man who clearly spends his off days listening to improvised jazz, sipping scotch, and reading Nietzsche. He's a calculating man of will, suffering from a rather pronounced case of anti-social disorder. What he's not, is a caricature.
Jamie Fox is a cab driver, and for the purposes of this film, Cruise's foil. He is an ordinary person with ambitions, but insufficient will to realize them. His fanatical capacity to predict trip times and devotion to efficiency suggest a stagnant, almost autistic approach to life.
These are terrific characters to start with, but where the film really excels is in its treatment of them. Despite immense odds, it manages to maintain a Hemingway'esque level of objectivity in a more pronounced fashion than 'Heat'. In so doing, it keeps us interested not only in who will ultimately 'win', or how stylishly he does so, but also (and more importantly) in how the characters exist in each moment.
9/10