Collateral July 23, 2006
Posted by clydefro in : Modern Films, 2000s , trackback
It’s been about two years since Michael Mann’s Collateral
Movies that take place over one night have a special quality about them. Martin Scorsese’s wonderful After Hours immediately springs to mind as an example of this. Using this tempate, Collateral begins with Jamie Foxx’s cab driver character, Max, picking up a young female attorney (played by Jada Pinkett Smith) and taking her to a federal office building. As Max is just about to drive away, he gets his next fare, Vincent, who he will unwillingly spend the rest of the night driving around Los Angeles from one murder to the next. Vincent is, of course, a hitman played by Tom Cruise, the world’s biggest movie star. Except he’s not. He’s actually a gray-haired, non-descript and ruthless killer devoid of any movie star mannerisms or charm. In short, Maverick is nowhere in sight. Cruise is often not given enough credit for his acting ability. Accused of coasting by on his considerable charm, people seem to forget the fine work he’s done in such films as Rain Man and his three Academy Award nominations for Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire and the significant departure Magnolia. In Collateral, Cruise may have turned in his best performance to date by stripping himself of his movie star qualities and portraying a character who’s ruthless and businesslike to a fault. “This is my job,” Vincent says to Max, and the viewer gets the feeling that Vincent has completely removed any nagging moral questions about what he does for a living in favor of viewing his murders as mere occupational projects required to collect a check.
Despite Cruise’s top billing and considerable star power, Collateral is really about Max, a man who’s been kidding himself into thinking that he’s been driving a cab as a transition into owning his own limousine service for twelve years. Jamie Foxx is impressive in the role, arguably even better than his Oscar-winning performance in Ray the same year. Gone is all evidence of cockiness or confidence that’s been present in most of Foxx’s other roles. While Ray might have been mimickry on the highest level for Foxx, Collateral allowed him to embody a completely different person and show remarkable acting skill. As Max is given the opportunity to snap out of the doldrums of being a cab driver, Foxx is near perfect and completely believable as the transformed hero.
At two hours, Collateral is impressively lean compared to some of Mann’s other work. Not a moment is wasted and the editing is seamless. Even though the characters are sufficiently introduced, there’s no extraneous dips into their private lives. Even Max’s visit to his mother at the hospital becomes an integral part of the plot, leading up to Max impersonating Vincent and his meeting with Felix (Javier Bardem in a great cameo). The lack of unnecessary fat in Collateral is especially evident on multiple viewings where the viewer can let the story move along organically without wondering what’s going to happen next. When I recently watched the film, I noticed that each scene transitions effortlessly and at just the right time. This is no doubt helped by having the action shift locales with each of Vincent’s victims, keeping things as fresh as possible.
Not to discount Cruise and Foxx, but the most important participant in Collateral might be director Michael Mann. As in films like Heat and Manhunter, here Mann elevates what could have been a basic action movie into something much more. No other director in Hollywood today is as talented at putting his own vision into otherwise standard fare as Mann. Whether it’s the memorable use of music in key spots or the brilliant choice to shoot Collateral on digital video to capture Los Angeles at night, Mann frequently makes bold, interesting choices that are, more often than not, highly successful. He is an inspired filmmaker who makes mainstream, big budget movies for wide audiences that often manage to withstand the scrutiny of more discriminating filmgoers as well.
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