Login
''No, I shot him. Bullets and the fall killed him.''
A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in LA. He must find a way to save both himself and one last victim.
Tom Cruise: Vincent
Brilliant inventive film. Tom cruise and Jamie Foxx make an electrifying combination, slick camera work and LA looks amazing. Literally sets the mood hands down.
Michael Mann always does a great job of getting exceptional performances from multiple actors in his films and here is no different. Tom Cruise gives a nomination worthy performance. Mark Ruffalo gives the best performance of his less-than-stellar career. Javier Bardem has one scene and he hits it out of the park. Jamie Foxx is a muse of Mann's. He was amazing in this role, giving us every day cab driver. He has his shining scenes, but when he's on screen, Tom Cruise is on screen, Javier Bardem is on screen, and those two just hit their performances into orbit.
Cruise is excellent and surprisingly intense. Michael Mann seems to make films with great dialogue, but its the moments where he goes in close and uses extended shots of his actors eyes as they witness something powerful. Mann will set a scene in the quite or with growing background music, and let the actors emotions pour through their eyes and not a word will be said. The moment in Collateral, when two coyotes run across the street. Vincent (Cruise) just gets done telling Max (Foxx) how his father died and how he would be beat him after he got drunk. This scene symbolizes Vincent's apparent loneliness and the coyotes that travel in pairs hunt for other prey. Vincent is the coyote and he's looking for a partner to hunt with. Since he has no one, he uses cab drivers as a means. He attempts to connect with Max and profess his ideals on life, which ultimately changes Max's own outlook on his life.
Add into this cosmic mix of grandeur class support Actors as mentioned previously, like Mark Ruffalo (Music on the Scene where he finds the apartment of the first hit, is so energised, love it.), Javier Bardem, Jada Pinkett Smith & Barry Shabaka Henley and you have a firecracker of furious fast paced fun.
The location is also one of the main attraction of the film aside from the starry casting and legendary directing.
Action sequences are handled nicely also. Superb camera work and editing. They are loud, fast, swift and brutal. The best example of such a scene is the last chase of Collateral.
The direction is class. Michael Mann adds another classic movie to his belt. Here he adds into the mix, elements that made another masterpiece Heat a definitive classic. Overall, he really injects an infusion of life and credibility into the proceedings, giving gritty realism and flair throughout.
Cinematography beautiful. Mann shot the film in HD so that we would be able to see night-time Los Angeles in all its glory. Add a haunting score by James Newton Howard, and you have an atmosphere that is gritty, urban, and most of all, realistic.
10/10
