|
Tom
Cruise shines as a cold-hearted hit-man
Vincent in Michael Mann's Los Angeles crime-thriller
"Collateral". © 2004 Dreamworks,
LLC. All rights reserved. – Photo
IMDB.com
Foxx
makes the rounds cruising with Cruise in
"Collateral"
By
Ted Goslin
Daily Forty-Niner
With
the summer movie season having hit its peak
with blockbuster films such as "Spider-man
2" gaining attention, one wouldn't
think that a claustrophobic action thriller
could grab your attention. They would be
wrong.
"Collateral"
not only has great action and suspense but
carries an ambitious storyline that includes
good acting and drama for stars Tom Cruise
and Jamie Foxx to play off of.
The
story begins with Max, played by Foxx, an
every day average cab driver who has dreams
of owning his own limo service but until
then has to drive around an endless sea
of strangers in his perfectly clean cab.
After
meeting a young lawyer, played by Jada Pinkett-Smith,
he unluckily is introduced to his next fare
Vincent (Cruise), a sleek looking man with
grey hair and a grey suit. He carries with
him a suspicious looking briefcase that
has who knows what inside of it.
As
soon as Vincent enters Max's world things
begin to change. Instead of the perfection
and normal continuity that Max is used to
Vincent introduces him to a world of chaos.
After
reaching their destination, Vincent asks
Max to wait for him. Soon after, a body
drops from the apartment above and lands
on the windshield of the cab. This prompts
Vincent to engage Max in a memorable night
of ‘let's chauffeur the hit-man'.
Director
Michael Mann ("Manhunter," "Heat")
succeeds in bringing two characters together
that have very little in common but seem
to need each other.
Max
is a lost soul who has dreams that he can't
quite achieve due to having to work all
the time driving a cab. Claiming that this
is just "part-time" he knows deep
down that it's not and that he needs make
something happen before it's too late. Vincent,
a hit-man with no other career choice, after
loads of conversations that take place in
between killings, exposes how Max truly
feels when comparing their respective careers.
Considering
these actors' past roles with Cruise in
"The Last Samurai" and Foxx in
the comedy "Breaking All The Rules"
one wouldn't think these two would have
much on-screen chemistry. However, Mann
has had his share of long shots in casting
and has proven once again that he has an
eye for detail.
Another
great idea in this film is the use of an
overhead camera above the city to showcase
the serenity above the chaos below. It's
also used to examine what the city is; a
peaceful machine that has working parts
and never stops moving. It can also be jammed
up on occasion and when it is such things
as this story can take place.
Max,
after trying desperately to get out of his
new-found hit-man-chauffeuring job, finally
manages to part company with Vincent but
unfortunately, as fate would have it, Max
must track him down again.
The
beauty of this film is the cinematography
which is both gritty yet clear, the acting
by both Foxx and Cruise who nail their respective
roles, and of course the directing by Mann
who manages to make the city of Los Angeles
a major player. If you need to get away
from the cheap blockbusters for a night
and watch something with some meaning, try
this one.
|
