Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx develop an unusual relationship in Collateral.

Long night in LA

Collateral
Stars Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinckett Smith and Mark Ruffalo.
Directed by Michael Mann
Rated M

Reviewer: Pte John Wellfare

Rating: 4

Night-time Los Angeles is one of the strongest characters in Michael Mann’s hard-edged, yet dangerously close to concept-based thriller that spans a single evening in the sprawling and diverse city.

Max (Foxx) is a quietly affable cab driver roped into transporting hitman Vincent (Cruise) from one job to the next, eliminating key witnesses the night before a federal indictment.

The trouble with concept-based films is they often have to take all sorts of ludicrous turns to keep the concept intact.

In Collateral, the initial premise seems potentially marred by questions such as why doesn’t the cabbie just take off while Vincent is doing his thing?

Or why doesn’t Vincent just kill the cabbie and drive the car himself? Fortunately, Stuart Beattie’s screenplay covers all the bases without seeming too deliberate.

Mann brings out the best in Cruise’s normally bland acting to present Vincent as a frighteningly steely character, to juxtapose the highly compassionate but largely undriven Max.

The action sequences are brilliantly choreographed – Vincent is something like a bad-guy version of Jason Bourne (The Bourne Identity) as he handles all the problems that pop up throughout the night.

The one thing that really disappoints about Collateral is the conclusion. Max is only able to survive more than a few seconds when the pair are finally pitted against each other because of a sudden and unexplainable lapse in Vincent’s well-proven abilities.

Despite the plot flaw, Mann’s take on night time Los Angeles and the everyman quality Foxx brings to the character Max, make Collateral a highly immersing thriller that’s well worth seeing on the big screen.