Collateral Details

2004

Rated:
70
from 97,399 members

Starring	Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett, Mark Ruffalo
Director	Michael Mann
Genres	Thriller

Collateral

Jamie Foxx plays Max, a Los Angeles cab driver who has a pretty wild night in this thriller from Michael Mann (HEAT, THE INSIDER). First, Max picks up, flirts with, and gets the number of Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith), an attractive District attorney. Next, Vincent (Tom Cruise) climbs into his cab. He is a professional hit man who reserves Max for the night with a whole shopping list of victims he needs to visit. As the night moves forward and the body count rises, Max must wrestle with the question of how to do the right thing while staying alive. Gradually the two men bond in unlikely ways, as each learns survival mechanisms from the other, and it all doubles as a metaphor for morality vs. capitalism. Mark Ruffalo and Peter Berg play cops who eventually get on Max and Vincent's trail, leading to a spectacular action set piece inside a night club. Irma P. Hall (2004's THE LADYKILLERS) gets laughs as Max's hospitalized momma, and Javier Bardem (BEFORE NIGHT FALLS) is a sinister drug lord. With a capable director like Mann at the wheel, this remains a smooth, enjoyable ride while also being fast, bumpy, and full of twists and turns. The streets of urban, nighttime Los Angeles--captured via a specially modified digital camera--never looked so beautiful or desolate. As typical of the director, the film is both artistic and action-packed; operatically over-the-top while never skimping on the little details.

Starring	Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Irma P. Hall, Javier Bardem
Director	Michael Mann
Studio	PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Run time	DVD: 1 hr 55 mins Watch now: 2 hrs
Certificate	DVD: , Watch Online:
Collections	100 must-see movies
Genres	Thriller
Language	English
Dubbed	French, German
Hearing-impaired	English
Subtitles	Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Swedish, Turkish
Released	DVD: 17 Jan 2005 Watch now: 04 Sep 2009 Production year: 2004
Watch now	£2.49
Format	DVD

Critics' reviews (6) of Collateral
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Johnny Depp takes on the role of infamous gangster John Dillinger... read more »
- Tom Charity,
- LOVEFiLM
Most helpful member's review of Collateral
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125 out of 130 people found this review helpful

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
- - Philip Concannon from London
  - Posted 19 Sep 2004 23:54
Most recent members' review of Collateral
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1 out of 1 person found this review helpful

I liked it

Interesting to see Tom Cruise as a baddie - I enjoyed the film, fast-paced & interesting to the end.
- - A customer from England
  - Posted 06 Feb 2007 15:17
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Public Enemies
- 30 Jun 2009
Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) isn’t used to swanky restaurants. A hat-check girl, she’s self-conscious about her cheap dress. “Everyone’s looking at me,” she says. “That’s because they’re all about where you come from; not where we’re going,” returns her date, a gallant John Dillinger (Johnny Depp). It’s no secret that where Dillinger is going is an early grave, as he and Billie dimly appreciate. First though, he promises... Read more
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