The worst hairdo of Tom Cruise's career ensues.

Rating: Null/10 (6 August 2004)

Slick, stylish, atmospheric. All words used to describe Johnny Betts' hair. But they're also equally applicable to Michael Mann's latest creation, Collateral. Folks, you know a movie has to be good when I'm actually enjoying conversation between Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. In fact, the dialogue is one of the strongest points of the film. It's very reminiscent of a Movie Mark review - smart, witty, and sometimes dark.
Collateral is not for the weak of heart. It's an engrossing experience that'll grab you after the first 10 or 15 minutes, and then it'll proceed to slap around your senses for well over an hour. One moment you'll gasp at a ruthless display of violence by ol' silver glint himself, Tom Cruise, and then the next minute you'll feel guilty for laughing at a bit of dark humor that you know wouldn't be funny if you saw it on the street.
Collateral is that type of movie. It's harsh, and it's brutal, but it's hard to look away from.
Just to get my point across even stronger, let me point out three things:
1) I'm no Tom Cruise fan. 2) I've never liked Jamie Foxx. 3) I didn't think I'd be able to get past Cruise's hilariously ridiculous gray hair.
Considering all that, I never thought I'd be saying this, but if it weren't for the last 15 or so minutes of the movie then Collateral would be a contender for movie of the year. Everything about the movie is smart and fresh, and that's what makes the ending so frustrating. But more on that later.
As I've pointed out many times in my life, I've never been a fan of Tom Cruise. Sometimes expecting me to buy the 5'4" Cruise as a mega action star is asking a little bit too much from me, but I've gotta give him credit here. This is probably the best I've seen him. I think part of the attraction is that he's a bad guy; therefore you get to root against him. Well, I always root against him, but now I have the pleasure of knowing all the fanboys are obliged to as well. He plays the character of a cold-blooded assassin perfectly. But he does it in such a way that sometimes you'll find yourself rooting for him, hoping for some sort of redemption. "Hmm, maybe he's not really that bad!" you'll say. Conflicting emotions like this are what I want to experience when watching a movie, so bravo to all involved.
And then there's Jamie Foxx. I used to think he was a Wayans brother. In fact, when he was on In Living Color I always referred to him as the "unfunny Wayans brother." He shows here that he's much better at drama than comedy because, well, he really isn't funny when he's trying to be. At the beginning of the movie Jada Pinkett Smith, who plays a lawyer, tells Foxx that she has a fear that, "the jury's gonna laugh at me." I was hoping she would turn to Foxx and add, "I know that's something *you* don't have to worry about." Ah well. Foxx handles the role well. It's especially interesting to watch his character transformation.
Now the disappointment. This is a movie that was heading for 4+ marks. I was sitting there thinking, "Man, if this ends as smartly and sharply as it has played out thus far, this could work its way up to a 4.5!" Unfortunately, as the movie begins to wind down it all becomes a little too contrived. I was willing to overlook the action movie clichÃ©s: the cell phone's batteries die at the worst possible time, people are marathon sprinting but for some unknown reason they are not BREATHING HEAVY like a normal human, and does Tom Cruise have a contract that every movie he's in has to feature him in an all-out sprint?
Like I said, I was willing to look past all of that, but the final confrontation followed suit and just didn't satisfy. The thing that made me mad is that it was out of character with what we saw throughout the rest of the movie. That's all I'll say here because I don't want to give too much away. It's not a horrible ending, but in light of how intelligently crafted the rest of the movie is, it's a disappointment.
Heat had a great, smart, bittersweet ending, and I was expecting the same here. It's just a shame that Collateral went from about an hour and forty-five minutes of a movie you would never expect Jamie Foxx to be in to about 15 minutes of a summer action flick you *would* expect him to star in. It reminds me of my senior year of high school. It was the last couple of weeks of school, I already had my college scholarship, and my baseball team was in the regional playoffs, so why did I have any interest in reading A Tale of Two Cities? For the first time in my life, I slipped things into cruise control and read the Cliff Notes. I got a C on the test. Mann's done the same thing. He pulled out the Cliff Notes on how to end a Summer action movie. But hey, I still made an 'A' for the six weeks. Similarly, Collateral walks away as a truly worthwhile experience.
THE GIST:
Just like he did with Heat way back in 1995, Mann has created another stylish, engrossing thriller. If you like tension, sharp dialogue, and great interaction between adversaries then Collateral is a must-see. Just make sure you can handle a little in-your-face violence, and please be willing to forgive the climax. The rest of the ride is well worth it.
Rating: 3.5 marks (out of 5)