Collateral [Blu-ray]
Collateral offers a change of pace for Tom Cruise as a ruthless contract killer, but that’s just one of many reasons to recommend this well-crafted thriller. It’s from Michael Mann, after all, and the director’s stellar track record with crime thrillers (Thief, Manhunter, and especially Heat) guarantees a rich combination of intelligent plotting, well-drawn characters, and escalating tension, beginning here when icy hit-man Vincent (Cruise) recruits cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx) to drive him through a nocturnal tour of Los Angeles, during which he will execute five people in a 10-hour spree. While Stuart Beattie’s screenplay deftly combines intimate character study with raw bursts of action (in keeping with Mann’s directorial trademark), Foxx does the best work of his career to date (between his excellent performance in Ali and his title-role showcase in Ray), and Cruise is fiercely convincing as an ultra-disciplined sociopath. Jada Pinkett-Smith rises above the limitations of a supporting role, and Mann directs with the confidence of a master, turning L.A. into a third major character (much as it was in the Mann-produced TV series Robbery Homicide Division). Collateral is a bit slow at first, but as it develops subtle themes of elusive dreams and lives on the edge, it shifts into overdrive and races, with breathtaking precision, toward a nail-biting climax. –Jeff Shannon
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Sorry - disappointing
Found myself wanting to turn it off before the ending. And saying to myself, boring. If a movie is based in reality,
I find it very hard to concentrate on the movie when presented with a string of non-sensical events. Basically, it
had it’s moments, but mostly felt like a waste of my time. Just watched it for the first time last night.
5 Stars A Class Act
This movie has real class, the photography, shot with the viper hi-def camera, is amazing and adds a depth of escapism that I have only found elsewhere in Michael Mann’s Miami Vice, shot with the same camera. The colours and the vibrancy of the Los Angeles dusk just made me feel “there” in a way I can’t put my finger on, and combined with the score to create a world I enjoyed losing myself in.
Tom Cruise is looking sharp in an all grey suit, tie and hair combo and brings an air of intensity and offbeat Tyler Durden style to his role, espousing the same “live life in the moment and destroy all those pedestrian parts of yourself that hold you back” philosophies in between murdering his targets in emphatic fashion. The guy looks good, and carries the main drive of the movie, along with the photography and the music.
Jamie Foxx does a great job of the supporting actor role, and the storyline is a tightly scripted realisation of a good concept: a foreign assassin turns up in LA to carry out five hits between sun-down and sun-up before leaving again never to be seen or heard from, strong-arming a hapless cab driver into being his personal chauffeur for the duration of the operation, or so the plan goes.
Watch out for the completely unscripted and impromptu appearance of a wild dog strolling out in front of the car at a light (the camera just happened to be rolling), it’s a special movie moment, and really captures the essence of “being there”, witnessing life as it unfolds, and all that jazz.
Brilliant film. Delivers on all the levels it attempts to, and possibly more.
5 Stars Collateral.
Surprisingly Good Movie,Tom Cruise is impeccable in the movie, Jamie Foxx even better. it’s a good high paced thriller movie. the circumstances of the two characters and how everything intertwines is good.
5 Stars My FAVORITE film of the 2000s!
COLLATERAL, for my money, is one of the best films of the decade. A lot of films made now have a “sameness” about them. Regardless of genre, they all seem “the same”. Maybe too much focus on growing technology (CGI, special effects), gimmickry (flashbacks, surprise endings), and not enough focus on character and dialogue. Somehow, COLLATERAL transcends the cliches found in many modern films and rises to the level of poetry. Directed by the great filmmaker Michael Mann (MANHUNTER, HEAT, THE INSIDER, and a personal shout-out to his groundbreaking 80s TV series MIAMI VICE), COLLATERAL is an absorbing, atmospheric, provocative tale of two men who meet at the literal crossroads of their lives.
A mystery man named Vincent (played with 100% utter conviction and ease by Tom Cruise) arrives at LAX and “accidentally” bumps into another man, in which a briefcase exchange ensues. Vincent travels to downtown LA and gets in a cab driven by Max (Jamie Foxx in a revelatory performance that earned him a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination). Vincent tasks Max to drive him around LA to complete his “errands”. Max soon finds out (the hard way!) that Vincent is a contract killer. Vincent is going to kill 5 people that night and Max must drive him around or else!
During this night, Vincent and Max learn valuable lessons about each other and themselves. In a series of stimulating conversations, some very truthful facts of life are laid out for the viewer to absorb and consider. One can see Vincent and Max literally transfer personality traits to each other as the night ensues, which leads to an inevitable conclusion.
Within this fascinating film, Mann mixes in a great soundtrack, superbly staged and convincing action sequences, and beautiful cinematography of LA after dark. The excellent supporting cast includes Mark Ruffalo (as Det. Fanning hot on Vincent and Max’s tail), Barry Shabaka Henley (as nightclub owner Daniel, who the men have an interesting encounter with), Irma P. Hall (as Max’s mom, who almost steals the movie!), Javier Bardem (in a pitch perfect scene as the big bad guy Felix), and last but not least an incredibly vibrant and sexy Jada Pinkett Smith (as an early fare of Max’s who ends up being a key to the story).
Cannot say enough of how impressed I was with Tom Cruise’s amazing work in this film. How he did not get nominated for an Oscar is beyond belief! This may be the best performance of his career, and it is thankfully part of a truly great film.
I own this 2-disc set dvd and it is perfect, the way every dvd of a big film should be with great quality on the film dvd and interesting, refreshing commentary on the 2nd one. A masterpiece as far as I’m concerned!
5 Stars Collateral
This movie is an expertly-made thriller. Max has lived a mundane life as a cab driver for twelve years. The faces have come and gone from his rear-view mirror: people and places he’s long since forgotten–until tonight. Vincent is a contract killer. When an off-shore narco-trafficking cartel learns that they’re about to be indicted by a federal grand jury, they mount an operation to identify and kill the key witnesses, and the last stage is tonight. It is on this very night that Vincent has arrived–and five bodies are supposed to fall. Circumstances cause Vincent to hijack Max’ taxicab, and Max becomes collateral–an expendable person who’s in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s a perfect hit.
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