Mann's Most Mainstream...but still superb.

Rating: Null/10 (10 August 2004)

Acting, cinematography, plot, and pace are all executed to near perfection in Collateral. I actually went into this one with low expectations because when I heard Jamie Fox of "Bait" and "Booty Call" fame was starring along-side Tom Cruise in a Michael Mann picture, I was worried. And going into one of Mann's pictures, you can't help but think there's no way he can top himself. He already nailed the L.A. action/drama with Heat and following that up with The Insider, arguably one of the best movies ever made, has to make one wonder if Mann can get any better.
Well, he hasn't gotten better, he's just added another piece of great film-making to his growing list. His shot-choices are sometimes very much like those in independent films, The Insider being the best example, and his music selection, usually consisting of middle-eastern strings and chants, brings a zen-like atmosphere to his movies that tends to add a very artistic element to a story that could be done in an otherwise very straightforward way.
The Music in Collateral with the exception of some techno and Audio Slave, is really my only problem with the movie. The various hard rock fits with the gritty L.A. cab driver life, but I couldn't help but miss Lisa Gerard's chanting (of Dead Can Dance fame and the singer of various middle-eastern-like songs in The Insider). My only other complaint is the sudden appearance of inconsequential F.B.I. agents in the film. But the scene these agents wind up in is simply one of the greatest shootouts ever filmed.
I write that Mann hasn't gotten better because as good as Collateral is, it is not as good as the two other films I've mentioned. It does not carry the weight or importance that The Insider does and it simply is not as epic as Heat (and it doesn't have a gun fight between Pacino & De Niro. Nothing can beat that.)
That said, the only way it's possible to find anything bad about Collateral is by comparing it to Mann's own films, and you know a Director has reached a point of notoriety when that's the only way one can find flaws.
Now for Tom Cruise. I'm not sure how good of an actor he actually is. He is fairly similar in almost everything he does, even though I don't like to write that, it's true. However, he always has screen presence, and I'm not annoyed by him on screen, which is more than I can say for many other actors who started out as pretty boys. And, in films like Last Samurai and the surprisingly disliked Far And Away, Cruise has a certain strength that comes from anger. Now that he's a bad guy in Collateral, all of his anger and rage is set free and we finally see a character that Cruise has nailed. He simply is Vincent. If you ask me what his name was in Last Samurai or Far and Away or Days of Thunder, I couldn't tell you. But I will always remember Vincent. Whether he's just looking into the camera with shadows and LA lights streaking across his stoic face, conversing the meaning of existence with Jamie Foxx, or shooting up an entire night clud as Okenfold's techno plays in the background, he dominates the film with a creepy, cool edge that has thus far escaped him in his career. He's always performed well in his other movies, don't get me wrong, but in Collateral he achieves a level of comfort that makes it very easy to believe in him.
Jamie Foxx and Pinket-Smith give great performances as well. I rooted for Jamie the whole way through and he just keeps getting tougher and tougher as the movie goes. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here.
And aside from the shoot-ups which are awesome and a climactic chase scene that will drive any to the edge of their seats, there is an underlying theme tying all these characters together in a very interesting way. Pay attention to the conversation Cruise has about the man on the monorail nobody notices. Well, with movies like Alien Vs Predator bringing a screeching halt and slow, agonizing death to the summer movie season, it's safe to say Collateral deserves your ten bucks and two hours. As of now it is one of the few Best Picture candidates this year.