Existentialism, the Michael Mann way

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2004)

This goes down as my second favorite film of 2004 (next to Kill Bill vol.2). But how can a basic premise of a film from a pulp style script be so invigorating and intense. This is achieved by it being raised up with the tork of Michael Mann. It seems to be you can't underestimate the guy who pretty much reinvented the crime narrative even when he went away for two semi-political/social conscious films like ALI and THE INSIDER. All that is achieved here is done by the method taken to tell the story.
The plot is a cab driver Max,Jamie Fox, is forced at gunpoint to be the escort for a professional killer Vincint, Tom Cruise. It is such a simple tag line that you spin your head around from that tag with the suspicion that it sounds so simple it could be easily screwed up. It isn't. It is elevated to a height that we rarely see in a genre film. A thriller where the would be innocent man is forced against his will to do bad things. But it's given quite a spark. Just like the kind of spark that Christopher Nolan gave to the revenge film when he made MEMENTO.
The presence of existentialism is what drives this home. We have Max, a man lulled by the rhythms of everyday routine, and Vincent, who somewhere lost his heart or was never given one. In this particular evening that the story covers they gain consciousness that the world around them demands something of them. They even start to understand that all along the world has been expecting things and tonight is the time to pay up. Freedom of choice is now more important than every when it comes to taking a life and saving a life. Consequence is promised around every L.A. concrete street corner.
Mann makes this film continuing his ongoing theme which is that his men are always searching to find their identities through their professions. In just about every case the men have to go beyond the guidelines of their jobs to make their life altering decisions.
I could be looking too hard into this. You could say that this is a film with conversation between good vs. evil, but Mann doesn't make it that easy. It is evident in Vincents look and attire. It is no coincidence that he is dressed in Grey and wears both a Grey beard and Grey head of hair. He is the Grey area, with both good and evil bleeding in. Just like Russell Crowe in THE INSIDER, or De Niro in HEAT, and William Petersen in MANHUNTER. We both agree and disagree with all of these characters. This constant bickering makes me want to watch again and again.
Some have complained about the cat and mouse type chase of the third act of this film. There should be no argument with this. It is, again, consistent with Mann's theme of Cat and Mouse. Just like Graham the FBI agent vs. the Red Dragon in Manhunter, or the cop Pacino vs. the thief De Niro in Heat, Crowe's scientist vs. the Tabacco Industry in THE INSIDER. All Mann has done is keep Max and Vincent bottled up in the taxi cab for nearly 2/3 of the film and then let them go, which is the only natural progression of the story.
The last great character in the film is Los Angeles. I don't think anyone else can film it like Michael Mann. It breathes, it pulsates-one could argue it is the driving force that makes Max and Vincent collide.
Michael Mann has added to his collage of strong character study, with demanding visuals and unending arguments. Bravo.