Collateral

Michael Mann's, "Collateral," is similar in many ways to his crime classic, "Heat." "Heat" is a much better film overall because of the way Mann handles his two leads. Pacino and De Niro play the cop versus the bad guy. That's a great character study of a protagonist and an antagonist. He sets both men on opposite sides of the law and shows how similar they are and how different they are, and one wonders if their up bringing influenced their career paths. They both look and act as if they could switch places and be great at each others jobs. Mann keeps the two titans separated for the majority of the film with only two scenes shared together. "Collateral" brings these two guys, one good and one bad, together from the get- go. This is the driving force of the film and this is a necessity, but it also brings in several plot devices, coincidences, and moments were you might find yourself baffled by some of the reckless or stupid decisions made. Some audiences members will be tested to look past those moments for the moments of suspense, thrills and symbolism.

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 personal favorite of Mann's, but he was miscast for this role. He was average in this role, and in order to make him look the part, they stuck some nerdy glasses on his face, and poof... he's a cab driver. Didn't quite work. He has his moments, but when he's on screen, Tom Cruise is on screen; Javier Bardem is on screen, and those two just hit their performances out of the park and he becomes a body taking up space. 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" comes 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 signifies Vincent's loneliness and the coyotes that travel in pairs hunt for other beings. Vincent is the coyote and he's looking for a partner to hunt to with. Since he has no one, he uses cab driver's. He attempts to connect with Max and profess his ideals on life, which changes Max' outlook on life. This is the changing moment of the film. This scene will lead to Max' change. He will then become the shepherd.

Even though Mann uses plot devices and relies on coincidences, its the moments of symbolism and suspense and the thrilling nature of man hunting man that spark some moments that will make you think, or put you on the edge of your seat. Mann does an incredible job of building suspense. He does a great job of developing his characters. "Collateral" offers up some humor; some great acting; a great thriller, and a great lead performance. This is a flawed film and relies on things that can throw reality out of the window, which lessens Mann's direction, but his film accomplishes what it sets out to do. It's an exceptional film that gets better upon repeat viewings.

The movie focuses on Max (Jamie Foxx), he is a cab driver from Los Angeles town . He makes his rounds at night dealing with various characters (Debi Mazar , Jada Pinkett Smith) in the car talking with them. Along the way, he dreams of have his own Limousinas company, though to his ill mummy (Imma P. Hall) tells her that he is already an owner . While Vincent (Tom Cruise) is a cruel killer with an engaging contract who offers a large sum of money to drive him through locations around L. A. Then, Max realizes he is a murderer who has been hired to kill a number of people . Events go wrong and Max becomes a hostage and he must find a way to rescue the last deadly objective. Meanwhile, Police Inspectors (Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg) are tracking down the nasty killer.

The picture packs action, violence , drama , shootouts with exciting scenes. Casting is frankly excellent , the main protagonists give first-class performances. Jamie Foxx (recently his Oscar for ¨Ray¨) as a hapless cab man is awesome similar to Tom Cruise as the relentless murderer , besides Jada Pinkett (Will Smith's wife) as obstinate prosecutor is magnificent and brief appearance by Javier Bardem . The film contains stimulating action set-pieces as the impressive gunplay developed in a tumultuous discotheque or the breathtaking final pursuit in the building and on the train . Atmospheric and moving musical score by the master James Newton Howard. Colorful and spectacular cinematography -although some dark due to be mainly shot by night- by two nice cameramen , Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron . The motion picture was well directed by the successful director Michael Mann (Red Dragon, Heat, Last Mohican , The insider) . The film will appeal to Tom Cruise devotees and action film enthusiasts .Rating : Better than average . Well worth watching.

Nobody's perfect, but it's hard to go wrong with a Michael Mann-directed film, especially when it's a crime movie.

Although this isn't the quality of his 1995 "Heat," it wasn't far behind in its ability to interest and entertain the viewer while providing some slick visuals.

Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are the stars of the film, Foxx winning an Academy Award. No offense to him, but I found Cruise better. He was just outstanding in here as the immoral hit-man. Foxx was entertaining, too, as the nerd-ish cab driver who is pulled into Cruise's murdering adventures.

You'll appreciate both of these guys, and the great visuals, more on the second viewing after you are familiar with the story. The intense film is definitely worth more than one look. Check out the behind-the-scenes documentary, too. You'll be glad you are not an actor in one of Mann's films.

For the better part of his career, Tom Cruise has played the All-American good guy. Gleaming eyed and bushy tailed, Cruise has played the roll of the hero in many films and is certainly the richer for it.

Something happened along the way, though. Cruise wanted to be considered a legitimate actor, rather than merely a "movie star." Therefore, we've seen him go against type, successfully (MAGNOLIA), and not so much (THE LAST SAMURAI). It's as if Cruise is the neglected kid in the back of the classroom who knows all of the answers but is never called upon, and therefore will go to desperate ends for attention. "Oh, Oh!! Pick me!!! Pick me!!!"

For me, Cruise hit it this time. His character in COLLATERAL is a menacing study in coldness. It is a thoroughly believable depiction of an utterly ruthless hit-man. It seems, finally, Cruise is actually BAD, rather than merely acting bad. He disdains his usual tricks in favor of a simple and very real performance.

Let us not forget Jamie Foxx. His character's transformation into a hero is rendered all the more effective by how wonderfully Foxx captures his character's initial impotence and bewilderment. It's a wonderfully effective, energetic, and yet very subtle performance.

Special kudos to Michael Mann. He has a very interesting eye when it comes to capturing the city of Los Angeles on film. His vision of L.A. in this film is one of unease and uncertainty, hardly the usual glitz and glamor treatment. This work is always compelling to the eye and paced to keep the action moving ever forward. Each scene has its own logic, contributing to the overall whole. This is first rate film-making.

People rave about Tom Cruise in other projects, but I'll say his best 2 for me are Born on the Fourth of July and this one.

It isn't just about playing against type. It's about the difference between playing someone who's bad and just being bad. It's about authenticity. You see it in great actors.

I'm new to this site but I've seen hundreds, if not thousands of films in my lifetime. He's one of the few modern movie actors who have this kind of star power. He's not as authentic (or instead of authentic I should say he sometimes looks like he's efforting his performance) in all of his performances as others (like a Spencer Tracy or Henry Fonda, for example), but when he's on...He's ON.