A night to remember...

Rating: 10/10 (28 June 2006)

When this film was shown at the 2004 Venice Film Festival, some critics complained about the fact that it was out of competition, since it was the best picture of those screened that year. They were right. Collateral is a beautiful, stylish, moving film. If it weren't for Clint Eastwood's masterpiece Million Dollar Baby, it would be the best movie of 2004. It's a remarkable achievement, made with expertise and inspiration.
The film is set during a night in Los Angeles (the time frame being 9.30 PM - 5.40 AM). We meet a cab driver named Max (Jamie Foxx), a man who's been doing that job for twelve years, hoping that sooner or later he'll be able to have enough cash for a project he's pursuing. He's a nice person, willing to take short cuts so that his passengers won't have to pay too much (how many taxi drivers would actually do such a thing?). But after that night, he'll never be the same person. Just after an attractive attorney (Jada Pinkett Smith) has left his vehicle, a new customer shows up. He tells Max he has to make five stops before 6.00 AM, and offers him 600 dollars for the ride. The unsuspecting driver accepts, only to regret his decision minutes later: Vincent (Tom Cruise) is not an ordinary passenger. He's a professional assassin, hired to kill five people and then leave L.A. before anybody notices. And now Max has to help him, whether he likes it or not.
The film is directed by Michael Mann, whose other masterwork, Heat, also took place in Los Angeles. In fact, Mann has become to L.A. what Martin Scorsese, Spike Lee and Woody Allen are to New York: he knows every single corner of the city, and by shooting the film on with DV cameras he makes sure the audience gets to see what a beautiful place it is at night. But Mann's genius lies in the fact that he doesn't let the aerial shots of the buildings distract us, but makes them a vital part of his protagonists'journey, which is the core of the movie.
The bond that is created between killer and hostage is arguably the best ever dealt with by Mann. If you liked De Niro and Pacino interacting in Heat, you'll be in awe when you witness the confrontation between Max and Vincent. Rarely have we seen two people so radically different: Max has lots of ambition, but won't do anything to even try improving his life. Vincent, on the other hand, is completely uninterested in human life. The only thing he cares about is doing his job perfectly, regardless of why he has to do it ("Should I only kill people I know?" he asks at a certain point) or what consequences there will be, since in his opinion we're all ultimately insignificant if compared with the rest of the universe. These are two loners who desperately need each other: Vincent depends on Max to get the work done in time, and our cab driver needs his adversary to realize it's time to take action and do something that makes a difference. It's a fascinating relationship, given additional depth by two excellent performances: Cruise is perfectly at his ease playing against type, while Foxx steps out of anonymity with a powerful, compelling, Oscar-worthy effort (he eventually lost out to the equally good Morgan Freeman, who won for the aforementioned Million Dollar Baby).
Those who believe in cinema's ability to move as well as entertain should give Collateral a try. It truly stands out as one of the best genre films ever made (shame it wasn't considered for Best Picture of 2004, though).