Not recommended. It is not a feel good movie but a black film that raised questions and operated on different levels

Rating: 9/10 (18 September 2004)

I am surprised at its UK rating as 12A does not reflect the language, violence or blackness of the film.
What level is it operating on? What is it trying to achieve?
You could see it in different ways
Is it a psychological thriller? Not quite
Is it a post modernist nihilistic violent film? In some ways yes Perhaps this is most accurate summary to me.
Is it a good versus bad film? In some ways. But not really as it fails on this in some ways. It is putting over some other ideas as well.
Do you identify with the cabbie or with Cruise? Both have their strong features. Cruise to me is the anti hero. Some would want to be him carrying out his vicious work in focused way.
Or the cabbie who is the kind of good guy caught up in all the mayhem. In the end he breaks out and overcomes. not really convincing to me.
Is it a mirror to our world in which human life is so cheap? Yes this does come out in some of the dialogs between Cruise and cabbie.
Is it about money as source of strength? Or love of money as root of evil? More the first though clearly money motivate to cruel vicious acts.
Dramatically there are some strong stomach churning times as well.
The relationship builds between Cruise and cabbie - and yet it is about hate and death.
We see Cruise gun down bad guy and good guy anyone who gets in his way. It is his living to kill. What a sad picture.
The plot does work in that I spotted the ending from the start and yet this helps and makes it have some sense to a senseless set of acts. Cruel and vicious more than senseless.
Is this what Western civilization comes to? Mindless killing or rather killing in vicious way for money and to protect gang chiefs? Both in some ways. I guess Cruise would argue it is not mindless but collateral in carrying out his mission. Human life is very very cheap in this film and that is very disturbing.
A touch of humour when Tom Cruise sends in cabbie as himself to see big bad guy. After going past several security levels the bad guy says to the cabbie "you're not as tall as I expected" - surely a play on Cruise's own lack of height.
Did it engage me?
Yes and no - in some ways horror does not appeal to me and I did not expect such a horror film. Yet the suspense works well at some points but not through the whole film. At the end few sequences it is powerful and on edge of seat stuff.
At other points I was able to be detached in a way that not possible recently while watching and in the Bourne supremacy film. Why? Not sure. I thought the plot kept changing its mind about what sort of film it was and Cruise's playing was also confusing to me. perhaps deliberately.
I would not recommend you to see it as it leaves quite a black feeling. I thought the large audience went out feeling pretty sick and down. Not a feel good movie. Not one to uplift and want to take action in a positive way. It is aimed to play on emotions and portray a confused picture.