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Dazzling thriller from Michael Mann
After dallying with real-life dramas in the excellent 'The Insider' and the flawed but impressive 'Ali', Michael Mann is back doing what he does best here with this absorbing crime thriller.
Max(Jamie Foxx) has been driving a cab for twelve years, while he makes plans for the limo company he hopes to own one day. This night has been going pretty well so far, Max has even scored a date with one of his fares(Jada Pinkett-Smith), but the night is about to take a turn for the worse. Max's next customer is Vincent(Tom Cruise), a contract killer who forces Max to be his driver throughout the night while he makes his five hits. Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are outstanding as the odd couple in Foxx's cab, they've got an natural chemistry and the sequences between them are alternately tense and amusing. Cruise is especially superb as the emotionless killer, he's always had a clinical coldness that has only been properly capitalised on in 'Magnolia', his best part to date. As always with Michael Mann's films, there's a well-chosen supporting cast. Mark Ruffalo is excellent as the cop on Vincent's trail and it's there's a nice cameo from Javier Bardem, it's always good to see Bruce McGill make an appearance too. However, the real star of this film is Mann himself. He orchestrates the action with a master's touch, nobody does a set-piece like he does. Nobody shoots LA like he does either, and the use of high-definition digital cameras pays off with some stunning shots. I especially loved the scene where Max can see Vincent on one floor of an office block and his prey on another. There's a shoot-out in a nightclub that's first class and a wonderful scene in a jazz club that seems to be just a strange sidetrack, until you see where the scene is heading. Maybe the film does slip into thriller conventions in the final third, but it still towers over most recent efforts in the genre. 'Collateral' is thrilling, funny, stylish and adult stuff for almost all of it's running time and offers plenty of twists and surprises. You won't see many more exciting thrillers than this, when it comes to crime on the streets of LA, Michael Mann is in a league of his own |
