Collateral
A film review by Joel B. Kirk
SYNOPSIS:
An assassin hijacks a cab (and its driver) one evening in order to
make a round of 5 kills. In that evening, the two have a colliding of
personality and psychological bouts, debating what is wrong and right.
MY TAKE:
Not to be confused with the Arnold Schwarzenegger film, "Collateral
Damage" this superior film by Michael Mann(television's Miami Vice,
Manhunter, Heat, The Insider, Ali) is an interesting story of dueling
personalities as Tom Cruise's (Mission: Impossible, Minority Report)
Vincent rationalizes his killings in order to get Jamie Foxx's(Any
Given Sunday, Ali) "normal guy" Max to drive him around.
Where Vincent is arrogant, Max is humble.
Where Vincent believes that he has all his bases covered throughout
this evening in which the film takes place, Max learns he has to adapt
if he is to stay alive-and at the same time, keep his morality intact.
Tom Cruise doesn't really impress me as much unless he is given good
material to work with (i.e. Minority Report, and to an extent Mission:
Impossible) playing something other than his usual cocky/superstar
characters.
Jamie Foxx, who showed he could hold himself with the superstars in
the aforementioned "Any Given Sunday," and "Ali" (also directed by
Michael Mann) is the innocent voice of reason. We laugh at his
shortcomings, but could relate to him if we were ever in his
situation.
Jada Pinkett Smith (Ali, The Nutty Professor, Menace II Society,
Jason's Lyric) who also came from Michael Mann's "Ali," shows up as a
lawyer who holds a conversation with Max…before the evening takes a
violent turn.
We never really find out about Vincent, only by what he relates to
Max, and how is character relates to each of the hits. Hints of a
troubled childhood, of a man gone wrong, is what we get from his
character.
Vincent seems to be doomed, whereas Max-as a man who wants to go
through life with the least amount of drama-comes off as a man that
will eventually attain his goals (which is to own his private
limousine service, something he has been working on in the 12 years he
has driven as a cabbie).
The film is shot in a shaky, hand-held documentary style (effective
when bringing out Vincent's scary/psychotic nature in the concluding
scenes)...
There are cameos by Mark Ruffalo(You Can Count on Me) as Detective
Fanning, director/actor Peter Berg(The Great White Hype, Cop Land),
Jason Statham (Snatch, The Italian Job, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking
Barrels ), Bruce McGill(The Insider, Rosewood)….and even Debi Mazar!
What is interesting about this film, is that given the star power, it
is left open to how these characters will turn out, and/or what the
fate of these characters will be…
Still, there are some nitpicks: Mark Ruffalo's Detective Fanning seems
to disappear without not satisfying closure; I expected to know what
happened to his character.
Furthermore, what was the point of Jason Statham "bumping" into
Cruise's Vincent? What of Peter Berg's character? Or even Bruce
McGill's Officer Pedrosa?
Aside from nitpicks, the movie ends on a strong, satisfying note,
ringing true the saying, "Good triumphs over evil."
MY RATING:
***1/2 out of *****
DIRECTOR:
Michael Mann
WRITER:
Stuart Beattie
CAST:
Tom Cruise-Vincent
Jamie Foxx-Max
Jada Pinkett Smith-Annie
Mark Ruffalo-Fanning
Peter Berg-Richard Weidner
Bruce McGill-Pedrosa
Irma P. Hall-Ida
Richard T. Jones-Traffic Cop #1
Debbie Mazar-Young Professional Woman
Javier Bardem-Felix
Jason Stetham-Airport Man
RUNNING TIME:
120 minutes
DISTRIBUTOR:
DreamWorks/Paramount, 2004
EMAIL:
joelkirk@sbcglobal.net
Copyright 2004 Joel B. Kirk
========== X-RAMR-ID: 38444 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1308581 X-RT-TitleID: 1134449 X-RT-AuthorID: 9404 X-RT-RatingText: 3.5/5
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