A great action thriller. but ...

Rating: 7/10 (9 July 2008)

To get them out of the way first, Cruise and Foxx are both as good as I've seen them. The script is a bit flaky. The girl was obviously dragged in at a late stage of the writing conferences, when they were running out of plot resolution options. Also, suspension of incredulity set in for me in the nightclub scene, when Vincent evades everyone and everything and manages to drag Max out of the back door despite the combined opposition of the the LAPD and about 2000 boppers, but what the hell, in a Mann movie you have to keep the action moving, don't you? Which brings me to the direction itself. Wow! Mann is the best around at managing and tweaking the pace - just when you expect him to slow down, he speeds up; just when you expect him to speed up down the road he's on, he takes a diversion and slams on the brakes - masterly! A minor criticism - the dialogue is often drowned out by the music, which is a shame as 'buddy movies' like this tend to rely on the conversations between the two male buddies.