Good and entertaining but heavily flawed - Mann's direction is the highlight

Rating: 7/10 (25 December 2004)

"I'm just Collateral." Max (Jamie Foxx) has had a long run as a taxi cab driver in the less savory areas of Los Angeles for longer than he ever wanted or imagined. Almost oblivious to the amount of time he has dedicated to his job, Max has reached a state of denial  every passenger who enters his cab seems to receive a lecture on how it's "just part-time", serving as a means of cash until he is able to pursue his long-time dream job: Opening a limo service.
Max's dreams come to a startling close on the fateful night that Vincent (Tom Cruise), a cool, calculating gray-haired assassin, enters his cab. Vincent is in town to kill five people, all in one night. Max is his personal driver. For $600, and held at gunpoint, Max is forced to carry Vincent from one destination to the next.
"Collateral" is a terribly unrealistic motion picture  but it is not terrible. In fact, it's quite good. Despite its flaws (and it has its fair share) it manages to maintain a hard edge and hold the audience's interest in the face of utter absurdity. Vincent, like the Rutger Hauer character from "The Hitcher," seems to be some unattainable wise guy who knows everything that is going to happen, is happening, and has happened. The movie stretches its limits of believability when Vincent visits Max's ill mother in hospital. Also, when Vincent takes the time to wander into a jazz club and talk to his victim for a half hour before killing him  in front of Max. It's just a bit too silly for such an otherwise realistic picture, and this also leads one to question Max's motives  through all of this all he does is whine and try to run away a few times, but he never at any point attempts to truly stop Vincent -- until he finds out that the last victim happens to be the woman Max is falling in love with. (What a coincidence!) So, either Max is incredibly stupid or he's incredibly selfish and uncaring. I hope it's the former.
Also, considering the fact that Vincent is a professional veteran hit-man, he doesn't seem too worried about leaving fingerprints, witnesses or other evidential materials behind. He's sloppy and careless. He enters a nightclub armed with a handgun and shoots a handful of men in a crowd of at least a hundred. One must wonder why, in eight years, Vincent has not been identified by police. There are video cameras that capture his presence, but we are led to believe no one has any idea who he is. Despite the fact that we are also led to believe that he's killed hundreds, if not thousands of people in his eight years as an assassin.
Then there's the plot, which is ridiculous. I highly doubt a hit-man would use a taxi cab driver as Vincent does  even as collateral. It's beyond belief, and I am willing to give scenes in "Commando" benefit of the doubt.
Then again I do think the film isn't supposed to be taken at face value. It is a bit of a moralistic tale told with metaphors and philosophical monologues. "One day you wake up and it's gone," Vincent states in regards to life. "Collateral" is less about reality and more about appreciating life.
In the end neither of the lead actors really manage to light up the screen. Cruise is cool and brutal but little else. His motivations are not clear and he comes across as being quite stupid rather than clever. Foxx is good but as I said above, his character's motivations are a bit dubious. He's a bit too willing to drive around being friends and talking to a hit-man all night. I find fault in the script  it's a nice idea but absurdly childish in execution. "Collateral" does not take place in an adult world  it takes place in a world where people perform acts in order to help along the script.
The real showcase of this film is Michael Mann, who once again proves that he can take fairly obvious ideas and really make them exciting and even seem unique to a certain extent (also see the superior "Heat" from 1995). He captures the essence of a dark, grainy LA night perfectly with use of digital cameras and rear projections. Also, he proves here that he's capable of directing intense action  the climax of the movie is stupid and clichéd and runs itself into a wall (it's way too ambiguous for its own good as a thriller) but Mann handles it like an epic and all in all the audience walks away from "Collateral" thinking it's a lot better than it probably is.
I liked this movie a lot, I purchased the DVD and I think multiple viewings will only improve it, but it is by no means Mann's best film and in comparison to "Heat" it seems quite poor. My review seems to be a heavy criticism  I am merely pointing out the things I disliked. Considering it runs two hours long, and these are my only major complaints, I think it's safe to say that "Collateral" has more plusses than minuses.