Pleasantly surprised and satisfied by this character piece (some spoilers!)

Rating: 10/10 (31 July 2004)

I don't like Tom Cruise, and I don't like Jamie Foxx. I thought the former was empty and pretentious, and I thought the latter was empty and cheap. I went to see this film out of obligation, and I wasn't entertained by the trailer or any of the clips. However after the screening, I thoroughly enjoyed this film and their performances. The whole time LA was described rather negatively, and the events show a grim city, BUT the cinematography was beautiful and showed a glamorous city. Why is this so appealing? I don't know, but these two contrasting portrayals of LA complemented each other.
Second, many things were very unrealistic and illogical in this film. There's no way to predict LA traffic, esp around the downtown, west Hollywood, ktown area!!! Who would hire a killer to do this in kind of job without an accomplice? How do BOTH people walk away from that kind of accident?
OK minus those annoying details, the jewel of this piece lies in the characters. THey really stayed true to themselves, and their dependence as well as the inevitable riddance of one or the other made this film. The struggle was definitely complex between Vincent & Max. Darwin was used jokingly throughout the film, but it really was central to their decisions, esp. Max at the end.
Props to Mark Ruffalo, who's always wonderful and Mr. Cruise, who blew me away and made me fall desperately for his character (except for some cheesy background info). Oh and Mr. Mann, no one could have shot the club scene more eloquently, artistically, yet accurately. The plot had some problems, but the story had great characters, which shows this film deserves more than being referred to as an action genre piece. 8/10