Collateral Review
by Andy Keast (arthistoryguy AT aol DOT com)August 19th, 2004
Collateral (2004): **1/2 out of ****
Directed by Michael Mann. Screenplay by Stuart Beattie. Starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Javier Bardem, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Jada Pinkett Smith and Mark Ruffalo.
by Andy Keast
"Collateral" takes a unique premise and crafts its elements into some nice set pieces, only to de-evolve into a ridiculous action picture in the last twenty minutes. That's not to say that the film isn't worth seeing; there is some good acting by Tom Cruise as a killer making execution rounds over the course of one night in Los Angeles, and some very good acting by Jamie Foxx as a hapless cab driver who is cajoled and eventually forced into being his driver.
Judging from the cut of his jib, one might think that financial backers for such a high profile hitman could spring for a private car, but nevermind: director Michael Mann, who has made insightful movies about the true nature of crime and criminals ("Heat," "The Insider"), uses the setup to compare two men's lives; these men will often at once have nothing and everything in common.
I can understand why Mann was drawn to the material: the dichotomy of criminal and civilian life, Cruise's existential dialogue, and realism in the portrayal of flawed heroes. Cruise is fine as the hitman, looking very much like Robert de Niro's outlaw from "Heat," though my heart sank upon hearing that Russell Crowe was Mann's original choice. Foxx's role is trickier; he has many scenes that call for quick thinking, improvisation and bluffing, and he pulls it off. The screenplay by Stuart Beattie ("Pirates of the Caribbean") isn't unlike many
greenlit scripts: good ideas, but too contrived. The film plays the music but not the notes, spending a little too much time being about its 'themes' than telling it's story. As a result, the mechanics of the plot become too obvious -the story arc involving Jada Pinkett Smith is forced, for example, and exists only to set the final act in motion. The first two acts are sharply-written and even eloquent, and they made me hopeful for more than a boring studio ending. I imagine that "The Terminator" isn't what I was supposed to be reminded of while watching the final act, but there you go. One of the things I love about "Heat" is that de Niro is never reduced to assembly line villainy,
and Pacino is hardly an idyllic hero, while any sympathy the audience may have for Cruise in "Collateral" is traded in for cheap thrills. Mann has proven in the past that he is capable of something more poetic.
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