Great writing, great acting, great directing...

Rating: 8/10 (4 August 2004)

I saw an early screening of COLLATERAL and was very impressed. I really liked Michael Mann's choice of using hi-def digital film and loved his use of many parts of LA to convey how gritty this character-driven thriller/action movie is. Jamie Foxx has definitely proven that he has a lot of range and I cannot wait to see him in the movie RAY (where he plays Ray Charles). Tom Cruise did an excellent job as the villain (I enjoyed this villain much more than his portrayal of Lestat in INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE).
There is a ton of witty dialogue (thanks to Stuart Beattie's great script) with all characters, but especially between Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise. For those looking for action, there are some great "shoot 'em up" scenes, but what really stood out was how strong each character is written. SPIDERMAN 2 proved to be a success because it wasn't so much genre-driven as it was character-driven, and I think the same applies to COLLATERAL.