Collateral

Rating R Formats DVD Genre action Starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg Directed by Michael Mann Publisher Dreamworks SKG External Links Collateral

Tom Cruise shows us his evil side in a dark crime thriller that will surely leave you on the end of your seat. Jamie Foxx plays the unlucky taxi driver that gets trapped in Cruise's assassination extravaganza. Conflict of interest's clash as the two characters takes the Los Angeles drug ring by storm. Prepare for a dark and bumpy ride, following Foxx as he regrettably taxies Cruise to all of his hits.

Taxi driver Max (Jamie Foxx) is after bigger dreams than just driving taxis. Unfortunately, he's been stuck in the taxi business for several years, trying to make some money to start up his dream limousine company. Max takes pleasure in knowing he has the cleanest taxi in Los Angeles, but tonight it's about to get filthy. Enter Vincent (Tom Cruise). Vincent has some business to take care of, involving the elimination of a few key elements of an upcoming court case. He unfortunately needs a ride to all these places, and in an ironic coincidence, Max is right there to pick him up.

Max doesn't know what he's getting into, until after he tries to drop off Vincent. Vincent offers Max double night's pay to drive him around while Vincent does his business. Not knowing yet what Vincent's business is, Max agrees. Vincent then takes care of his first hit, the victim falling out the window and onto Max's cab. Max soon learns what Vincent's real profession is, and unfortunately Vincent isn't going to let Max go quite easily. Threatened by his life, Max agrees to take Vincent where he needs to go, but Max has some of his own tricks up his sleeve.

The movie starts kind of slow at first. It picks up greatly once Cruise is in the cab, and greatly intensifies after the first hit. Jamie Foxx does a spectacular job in his role, and outshines Cruise in a few spots. The friction between the two characters is captured extremely well as their two personalities clash throughout the entire movie. Character development is drawn out nicely; Foxx does a surprisingly good job in a serious movie. His transition from a passive to an aggressive character was very smooth. As the two personalities clash, you may find yourself cringing as the plot unfolds, but cheering just minutes later. Although not a movie with a huge amount of depth, there is certainly enough content to keep you thinking all the way through.

The score fits the movie well. It keeps pace with the action, and there is plenty enough of that. You are almost guaranteed to find the edge of your seat at least once, as Max almost breaks free of Vincent's grasp quite a few times. The cinematography portrays Los Angeles as a gritty desolate place, which also fits the movie quite well. It all takes place at night, adding to that feel. The visual style and color scheme changes with the mood. The tight camera shots combined with the music increases the intensity of the movie greatly in the second half of it.

The DVD comes with the usual extras, such as deleted scenes with commentary, photo galleries, a little 'making of' portion, and a rehearsal clip of Cruise and Foxx. If you're a big fan of either Cruise or Foxx than you should be happy with the extra features. The making of Collateral is interesting to watch, as well as the Visual FX: MTA Train feature.

Overall, this should definitely be checked out if you're in need of a good crime-thriller flick. Cruise plays a startling creepy bad guy, and Foxx plays a startling fine good guy. This isn't a movie with hundreds of twists that make your head hurt if you think too deeply into it, but its level of depth is sufficient and gets the job done. You won't be disappointed.