Collateral (2004): **1/2 out of ****
Directed by Michael Mann. Screenplay by Stuart Beattie. Starring Tom Cruise,
Jamie Foxx, Javier Bardem, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Jada Pinkett Smith and
Mark Ruffalo.
by Andy Keast
"Collateral" takes a unique premise and crafts its elements into some nice set
pieces, only to de-evolve into a ridiculous action picture in the last twenty
minutes. That's not to say that the film isn't worth seeing; there is some
good acting by Tom Cruise as a killer making execution rounds over the course
of one night in Los Angeles, and some very good acting by Jamie Foxx as a
hapless cab driver who is cajoled and eventually forced into being his driver.
Judging from the cut of his jib, one might think that financial backers for
such a high profile hitman could spring for a private car, but nevermind:
director Michael Mann, who has made insightful movies about the true nature of
crime and criminals ("Heat," "The Insider"), uses the setup to compare two
men's lives; these men will often at once have nothing and everything in
common.
I can understand why Mann was drawn to the material: the dichotomy of criminal
and civilian life, Cruise's existential dialogue, and realism in the portrayal
of flawed heroes. Cruise is fine as the hitman, looking very much like Robert
de Niro's outlaw from "Heat," though my heart sank upon hearing that Russell
Crowe was Mann's original choice. Foxx's role is trickier; he has many scenes
that call for quick thinking, improvisation and bluffing, and he pulls it off.
The screenplay by Stuart Beattie ("Pirates of the Caribbean") isn't unlike many
greenlit scripts: good ideas, but too contrived. The film plays the music but
not the notes, spending a little too much time being about its 'themes' than
telling it's story. As a result, the mechanics of the plot become too obvious
-the story arc involving Jada Pinkett Smith is forced, for example, and exists
only to set the final act in motion. The first two acts are sharply-written
and even eloquent, and they made me hopeful for more than a boring studio
ending. I imagine that "The Terminator" isn't what I was supposed to be
reminded of while watching the final act, but there you go. One of the things
I love about "Heat" is that de Niro is never reduced to assembly line villainy,
and Pacino is hardly an idyllic hero, while any sympathy the audience may have
for Cruise in "Collateral" is traded in for cheap thrills. Mann has proven in
the past that he is capable of something more poetic.
au3480@wayne.edu
arthistoryguy@aol.com
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