Smart movie that strangely becomes dumb at the end...

Rating: 8/10 (6 June 2005)

From the very start you get sucked into Collateral, Michael Mann's impressive character study disguised as a thriller. Jamie Foxx grabs your attention from the start and never lets go. Just when you think the movie is guaranteed ****, the ending rears it's ugly head.
Lets not jump right into my gripes on the movie though, and talk about whats good. First of all Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx both put up memorable performances, that rank near the top of their careers (then again putting this up with Foxx's other work, sans Ray, isn't saying much). Cruise literally looks like electricity with his spiked grey hair and beard. Foxx turns in a great performance running the gamut of the emotions. Jada Pinkett Smith is also good in a small understated roll.
Mann's direction is, to no surprise, terrific. Los Angeles becomes a third lead character thanks to his direction. Somehow Mann is always lost in the discussion of great directors and I just don't get it. When has he missed lately?
OK I said i would gripe so i will. First of all, why even try to "disguise" the fact that Cruise is a bad guy when its shouted out in every trailer and commercial? It's not that big of a deal, but it still comes off kinda strange. Secondly, the movie loses some logic towards the end. Cruise's character becomes too cartoonish and almost reminded me of something you'd see in an 80's horror movie. Lastly, there is a, for lack of a better word, awkward gunfight between Cruise and Foxx that doesn't really hit the mark.
Bottom Line - Deep characters, good action, some touching scenes (the jazz hall scene is terrific) and a clunky ending earns a ***1/2/****.