Slick Movie, Properly Paced Story

Rating: Null/10 (17 June 2006)

COLLATERAL ****1/2 In this slick, gripping motion picture, stars Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx contribute dead-on performances, director Michael Mann has a firm grip on the material, James Newton Howard's score perfectly compliments the darkly engaging aura the movie has, and Stuart Beattie seems to combine a variety of creative elements to his carefully paced script. Overnight cab driver Foxx takes Cruise on the first of five specific stops that he is asked to make when he discovers that Cruise is a contract killer who is making five rounds to complete the job. Foxx is obviously put at gun-point and forced to drive Cruise to the final destinations. But after the fourth hit-and-run, Foxx tries to stop the killer from doing any more harm. It's excellent entertainment; the only reason it doesn't deserve five stars is because, well, it isn't quite on the level of 'The Fugitive'.