Odd Roles for Both

Rating: 4/10 (19 March 2005)

This film definitely takes a bit of a turn from previous roles for both Jamie Fox and Tom Cruise. Cruise plays a hit man who uses a cabbie's services to complete a list of marks for the evening. The cabbie, played by Fox, is a well-educated man who almost comes across as not fitting the part correctly. I'm not trying to slant cab drivers, but Fox didn't seem convincing, maybe because of his comedic background. Cruise wasn't much better. For a guy that usually plays the hero's role, seeing him act darkly was a first. I will say that his new image (grayish hair, unshaven look) helped him at least look the part. The polished wit and outfit gave him a distinguished presence. But then his philosophy on life, psychology, etc. threw him out of the stereotypical hit-man mix. In the end, I guess they both were so oddly paired for their roles that the director thought the movie could work. But really, how plausible is any film where a contract killer uses a taxi-cab driver as his personal chauffeur for killing people?! The outrageousness of that alone is almost too much, albeit sensationalism is one of the things viewers can't seem to resist. 4/10