By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Michael Mann
Starring: Jada Pinkett Smith | Jamie Foxx | Tom Cruise
Country: united_states
Year: 2004
Running time: 119
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0369339/combined
Bruce says: “What exactly does the title of this film mean? Four different definitions could be possibilities: running side by side, concomitant, serving to support, and subordinate.
“Jamie Foxx plays Max, a LA taxi driver who always has a dream and always is down on his luck. His mother thinks he drives a limo for the upper echelon of Hollywood celebrities. He has grandiose plans to start his own livery business. A picture of a South Seas island is attached to his visor so that he can instantly meditate whenever he needs to calm himself. Tom Cruise plays Vincent, a hit man who is spending a few hours in LA during which he plans to make five stops on his itinerary before he returns to LAX. Guess whose cab he hails? Vincent soon bribes Max into hiring the taxi for the entire night against both Max’s better
judgment and the LA hack rules.
“At first I thought Michael Mann was quite clever in helping the viewer get to know Max by sending us on a few taxi rides, fares Max picks up prior to his meeting Vincent. Little did I realize that Max is actually the central character in the film. Tom Cruise’s top billing had me all confused.
“Even without having seen RAY, I can say that Jamie Foxx is the Real McCoy. His performance is exemplary. Tom Cruise is OK as he plays against type but why he would choose this role is a bit of a mystery. Jada Pickett Smith is good in her role as a DA with pre-trial jitters.
“There is a lot of action in the film and the story rolls along for more than half of the film with a lot of mystery attached to the plot. The relationship between Vincent and Max holds our interest as Vincent goes from bribing Max to kidnapping and extorting him. After the first hit, a police detective (Mark Ruffalo, sporting a strange Ben Affleck look) stumbles upon the crime scene and the chase begins. Slowly more and more police and detective types get added to the case and the film degenerates into a multilayered procedural – another genre altogether. COLLATERAL totally loses its intimacy and focus on character in the process. As with HEAT, the cinematography is superb. There are lots of overhead shots of nighttime LA which add to the eerie mood. Mann’s LA is more slick than sleazy. 3 cats”