It started like any other movie...and ended unlike any other

Rating: 8/10 (20 September 2004)

Max has lived a mundane life as a cab driver for twelve years. The faces have come and gone from his rear-view mirror. People and places he's long since forgotten, until tonight. He picks up a man asking him to take him from spot to spot all night, offering him a large sum of money. The man's name is Vincent.
Vincent is a contract killer. When an offshore nacre-trafficking cartel learns that they're about to be indicted by a federal grand jury, they mount an operation to identify and kill the key witness, and the last stage is tonight. It is on this very night that Vincent has arrived, and five bodies are supposed to fall.
Circumstances cause Vincent to hijack Max' taxicab, and Max becomes collateral--an expendable person who's in the wrong place at the wrong time. Through the night, Vincent forces Max to drive him to each assigned destination. And as the L.A.P.D. and F.B.I. race to intercept them, Max and Vincent's survival become dependent on each other, in ways neither would have imagined.
In "Collateral", Tom Cruise gives his most daring, taut and quite simply put, his greatest performance yet. Playing hit man Vincent, this is the first time Cruise has been a legit bad guy. (Well, maybe Interview With The Vampire). A truly think he should give more performances as a bad guy much more often.
Jamie Foxx plays cab driver Max, not having the greatest life. Heck, his favorite vacation spot is a picture of an island. Foxx also gives his greatest role yet. I don't think I'll get much of an argument there. I get the feeling one of these two will get a big award or something because of this movie.
Micheal Mann shows us once again that he is the man. This is his best film to date, other than "Heat". I get the feeling I'm watching Heat when I saw Collateral. And I get the feeling I'm watching Collateral when I'm watching Heat. You can right away that it's the same director when you watch both of these amazing flicks.
To me, Collateral is one of the best films of the year. With some parts being very very suspense, and other parts being done right hilarious. Not in a comedy sort of way, if you know what I mean. There are also a lot of unexpected twists in the movie. In some films twist can be a bad thing, but in Collateral.
Seriously I believe the Academy Awards will recognize Collateral in some sort of way. Well if they are smart they will. The film is quite good. Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay. Sounds good to me. Maybe even a Best Picture nomination would be nice. It would be unexpected, but it would be nice.
****/*****