Michael Mann is in Cruise control of his latest thriller.

Rating: Null/10 (20 September 2004)

Rating: **** (out of *****)
Michael Mann, director of notable fare such as The Last Of The Mohicans and The Insider, has made probably the most daring casting move of the summer in his latest thriller  Tom Cruise, villain.
Well, maybe not. It's true that Cruise is best known for playing heroes (like a cop on the run, a secret agent and an army captain-turned-samurai, to name but a few) but he has played bad guys before. (Remember the vampire Lestat?) But let's cut to the point, which is: how well does he fare as a gruff contract killer named Vincent? The answer is very well. He barely smiles, and there's no Last Samurai-esque pandering to his ego. His line delivery and screen presence is top-notch, and his unflappability may surprise even his sternest detractors. I really don't think that his namesake, Hanks, could ever play this kind of role. Sure, Vincent does get a little back-story, but it's hardly likely to make the audience feel sympathetic towards him.
Vincent is sent out to kill five witnesses to a drug trafficking incident in modern LA. He successfully hijacks the services of a well-meaning cab driver, Max (Jamie Foxx) to drive him to these people, and in the process, Max finds out more about Vincent's world than he really wants to. And all along, he's forced to be Vincent's reluctant accomplice!
Mann is an unsubtle director, which suits a leading man like Cruise down to the ground, but he is also a stylish one. With the help of both his camera and his actors, he draws the maximum possible suspense from nearly all of his action scenes. But the film scores highest when it is focused on Max and Vincent in the cab, as it is there where we hear the best of the smart, Tarantino-esque dialogue. The presence of black humour is a welcome relief from the concentration that this film requires to get the most from it.
Mann has also worked well to bring the best out of Jamie Foxx. When Max first meets Vincent, he is nothing more than a puzzled bystander, but Vincent's continuing presence and actions change Max significantly, and Foxx is adept at showing these changes. However, this doesn't happen to the point where he becomes a completely different person, because his basic characteristics are still there. The "heroic" transformation here is slightly untypical, and I credit Mann for this.
Collateral has its flaws. I could have done with a little less exposition  the film loses its grip on the audience a bit in the middle. Some of the supporting cast members (especially Jada Pinkett Smith) are underused. And in the film's action-packed conclusion, the contrivances become more visible. There is also a potential problem at the beginning, where Cruise's presence threatens to render Foxx almost insignificant to the point where we are in danger of rooting for Vincent, not Max  however, the more ruthless Vincent becomes, the more we hate him, and this helps Foxx and the rest of the cast. Our sympathies gradually swing the right way throughout the film, and we leave the cinema completely satisfied.
Collateral is a highly entertaining thriller that should stand up well on repeat viewings. It's also a film that shows that, once again, Tom Cruise is willing to try and stretch his range  even though he'll never quite reach greatness.