Collateral Review

Max (Jamie Foxx) is a cab driver stuck in a rut. He picks up a woman (Jada Pinkett Smith) in his cab, and gets her phone number. It started like any other night. Then Vincent (Tom Cruise) enters the cab and pays him off to drive around to five different locations for "real estate" deals. When a body falls onto Max's cab, however, it seems that Vincent is going around killing people, as he's a contract killer. Max then has to go along with Vincent, because it's good to have a good argument, but better to have a good argument with a gun in your hand.

I didn't know whether Collateral would be a thriller, an action, or a drama, but I was prepared for any. What I got was a good combination of the three. The movie begins in a somber way-something that a good drama could have cone out of. There's a few action scenes thrown in (they're actually pretty cool-they'd be better if this was actually an action movie). The music (by James Newton Howard) played the emotions so much that it added a great deal to the movie, as with all Michael Mann films.

Speaking of Mann, he does a great directing job here. He chooses a unique style, which isn't always good (like Man on Fire), but here it works. He keeps only a small amount of the screen in focus by using a telephoto lens, which really emphasizes the characters, which are both well developed. The cinematography in general was very good, with quite a few helicopter shots, and the whole thing's pretty steady for what looked like to be a hand-held camera. Although the quick cuts were necessary in the action scenes, they weren't overdone, which I felt thankful for. Everything technical looked very deliberate-and I can only attribute that to Mann. Although he won't be, it would be great to see him nominated for Best Director. He wasn't the one responsible for the uneven script, but he did make it constantly interesting. At times, it's interesting but unexciting, then it's interesting and exciting, then it's interesting and boring. At least it's always interesting.

Foxx, best known for his roles in stupid comedies (except 2001's Ali, also directed by Mann), really proves himself here. He puts in an outstanding acting job here, alienating himself from his previous, fluff roles. Cruise seems to be paychecking his way through, although, since he's a generally good actor, he does a good job. Collateral is a different film, to say the least. It's a combination of genres.