A superb thriller. Tom Cruise is electrifying.

Rating: 10/10 (9 July 2010)

Tom Cruise does some of his best work as a contract killer in Michael Mann's astonishing thriller(ha that kind of rhymed), Collateral. Cruise kind of sunk down in the year 2006. But now, after i've seen some of his films, such as Magnolia(his best performance), Tropic thunder, even Knight and day, Tom Cruise has grown on me. And he is a terrific actor. His work in Mann's Collateral is electrifying, and incredibly memorable.
For once, I actually wasn't that annoyed by Jamie Foxx. I actually liked him in his Oscar nominated role. Though he didn't deserve it over Cruise, who's last nomination was for Magnolia. And didn't win. Injustice. Anyways, to the story plot.
Foxx plays a cabbie who has dreams of doing other things. But never expects what happens when he meets Vincent(played by Tom Cruise). Vincent wants him to take him to numerous places and return him to L.A.X. by about 6 in the morning. Things go well... for a couple of minutes. Then he finds out that Vincent is a contract killer. And he tries to escape. Eventually, the cops are after him instead of Vincent, and even worse: He finds out that Vincent is going to kill a girl that he met earlier that day(played by Jada Pinkett Smith).
Collateral is a very engaging thriller. But it would be nothing without Cruise. Cruise can be funny, Cruise can be menacing, Cruise can be dramatic. That is everything that he does. And he does it so well. Cruise even scared me. Not in the way that he did on Opra either.
Cruise is a wonderful actor. Definitely should've been nominated for this film, and we all know he deserved the Oscar for Magnolia(i'm not even saying that cause it's my favorite movie). Overall, Collateral is a well acted, fast paced, fun, funny, electrifying,dazzling thriller that will have you hooked in the blink of an eye. This is a film that started the career of Javier Bardem, who is also menacing when he doesn't even try. Overall, this is a great film.
Collateral: A+