Today’s quick review: Collateral. Max (Jamie Foxx), a hard-working Los Angeles taxi driver, stumbles into a life-or-death situation when Vincent (Tom Cruise), a contract killer with targets around the city, hires his cab for the night. Max faces an impossible dilemma: resist and risk the lives of those around him, as well as his own, or allow Vincent to complete his bloody mission and trust that the killer will let him live.
Collateral is a crime thriller from director Michael Mann. Collateral features an impressive plot, cast, and script. The film’s low-key beginnings soon give way to a tense story that grows even more dramatic as the movie goes on. Collateral does a good job of developing its plot and its characters in tandem. What appear to be random events are eventually revealed to be part of a larger story, one in which Max unknowingly plays a pivotal role.
Apart from the solid mechanics of its plot, Collateral draws much of its strength from its cast. Jamie Foxx makes for a sympathetic protagonist in Max, a sharp, honest man thrust into a situation beyond his control. Watching him rise to the occasion is one of the movie’s strongest points. Tom Cruise complements him well as Vincent, an imposing psychopath whose veneer of charisma isn’t enough to justify his amoral deeds.
The cast is rounded out by Mark Ruffalo as a detective on Vincent’s trail and Jada Pinkett Smith as a fare who hits it off with Max. Though the focus of the movie is on Max and his immediate predicament, Collateral finds the time to build up a credible mystery in the background. The plot connects with itself in interesting ways, and everything builds up to a surprisingly tense, satisfying finale.
Give Collateral a shot when you’re in the mood for a tense and well-constructed crime movie. Collateral is one of the stronger entries into its genre, and fans of movies like Die Hard, Inside Man, or The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 will get their money’s worth out of it. Skip it if you’re looking for all-out action, since Collateral relies as much on its build-up as on its action sequences.
7.6 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 to 7.5 for all-around solid craftsmanship.