GREAT SELECTION: Collateral (2004)

Tom Cruise has been in the acting realm for over 30 years and had established himself as a star early with Risky Business, with his infamous underwear scene and shades and Top Gun. However, when he dials down to uncertain or unpredictable characters such as Magnolia, Jerry Maguire, Eyes Wide Shut and Tropic Thunder (great character), Cruise disappears into his persona real well either with charisma, humor or controversial hatred. But, most of the films he had played were either anti-hero or hero but not necessarily a villain so it was interesting to see what he could do with a mean 'silver fox' persona when this movie was made.

I remember when this movie came out back in 2004: there were two types of buzzes: one was Tom Cruise's role as the villain and the other was Oscar buzz for Jamie Foxx. The latter did receive a nomination for Best Supporting Actor but he lost. However, Foxx got the coveted Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Ray. It overshadowed Cruise's electrifying performance in a way but even though the movie was marketed as an action movie set in the night time, this movie was more of a character study than a tantalizing action movie. The movie does a good job of setting both characters up as they are both in a situation but also exchange dialogue that is both precise and a bit exciting.

Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx) is a temporary cab driver working on the night shift who wants to earn enough to start his own limousine business. One of his cab customers is prosecutor Annie Farrell (Jada Pinkett-Smith) who works for U.S. Justice Department working on a big case that could take her all night. They both have a very interesting, engaged conversation regarding the freeway routes, appearances and their routines. In the end, Annie gives Max her business card, "whether she wants to talk about freeway routes or something."

A mysterious person named Vincent (Tom Cruise) exits the same building that Annie has just entered and he is Max's next fare. Because of Max's skill of knowing the L.A. streets, Vincent hires Max for $600 to drive him for the entire night even though it is against regulations. Max is under the impression that Vincent is a broker for some real estate company so he reluctantly accepts. While waiting in the back alley, a dead man's body drops onto Max's car. Vincent reveals himself as a hitman as he threatens Max to help him and hide the body in the trunk. The body is a drug dealer who is one of the five targets he has to kill tonight.

At his second stop, Vincent kills his next target as Max is tied to the steering wheel. But after he draws attention by sounding his horn and flashing his lights, a couple of thieves threaten him by his gun, take his wallet and steal Vincent's briefcase. When Vincent returns, he kills both of the young men, angered he had to that because they were not necessary to be killed.

Meanwhile, LAPD Detective Ray Fanning (Mark Ruffalo) is investigating the murder of the drug dealer and also the second murder as he finds out from a coroner that some of the bodies that were unloaded had the same night. He, along with FBI Special Agent Frank Pedrosa (Bruce McGill), find out that the witnesses that are killed or being killed tonight are witnesses in a federal grand jury indicting Felix Reyes-Torrena (Javier Bardem), a Mexican cartel drug lord that hired Vincent, for the next day. It is why Vincent is at Los Angeles to kill all the witnesses within the deadline and the clock is ticking for them, Vincent and Max.

SPOILER ALERT!

This movie is a calculated game of chess between two key players: Vincent and Max. And, the movie is riveting from start to finish as almost scene is raised with tension. I would love to describe many scenes but I'll try to step back as much as possible. For example, we have a brief scene of light tension as both Vincent and Max are stopped by police on one of the main streets of L.A. as they see a broken front windshield. The tension is raised as they persuade them to get out of the car and open the trunk but Max knows that there is a body in the trunk but luckily, the police are called off the scene or as Vincent would say, "they go in the trunk".

There are two scenes done with perfect execution. One is a scene where Max and Vincent attend a jazz nightclub as they are ahead of schedule and Vincent offers to buy Max a drink. Vincent is a fan of jazz and he is mesmerized by the jazz man named Daniel (Barry Shekaba-Henley) as he offers to buy him a drink. They all have a great conversation as Daniel talks about his "moment of conception" in which he had the chance to play alongside Miles Davis for 20 minutes. Unfortunately, Daniel did not call Miles up because he was drafted for the Army. However, I loved how Vincent reveals that he works for the people from Culiacan and Cartageña and the camera zooms in on both Vincent and Daniel as it is revealed that Daniel is the next victim. Daniel says that he was there to "play ball or go back inside and he will never go back inside". Unfortunately, he gets killed.

Another scene is when after Max destroys Vincent's briefcase, they go to a Spanish nightclub. However, Vincent does not want to destroy his anonymous reputation as he is just hired to commit action and not meet his employer. So, Max has to be Vincent. The camera shot recognition is excellent because Max is noticeably nervous because he has a chance to get killed based on the many henchmen behind him while talking to Felix about losing the briefcase as Felix being cool sitting on the booth knowing his work will get done. However, Max redeems himself a bit as he improvises like Vincent that he picked up a "tail" and "killed" three targets and he has not failed yet. Felix gives him the hard drive to the last two targets but he is suspicious as Felix's hitmen follow him.

You can argue the case that director Michael Mann can incorporate the nocturnal L.A. atmosphere as a character as people come from different atmospheres, good and bad, to take care of everything possible. It is a strange place compared to the daytime. The action sequences along with the cinematography by Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron work particularly well in the nighttime in which one of the best action scenes ever takes place in another nightclub later in the movie in which the FBI, the LAPD agent, Felix's guys, the next target and Max and Vincent are in the same picture amongst a big dancing crowd and the result is unpredictable but awesome. Plus, there is a random coyote that is emblematic of both the atmosphere and maybe Vincent as a character. Vincent is sort of a silver fox.

Mann and his writer Stuart Beattie do a great job of having the movie being about the characters than the plot because even though the plot is tricky, we can pay attention to the characters exchanging dialogue real well and possibly foreshadowing certain events. And, even Annie from earlier looks like a cameo appearance, but the twist is that she is one of the targets for Vincent to kill and leads to a sensational final sequence. But, also it is thanks to both Jamie Foxx's and Tom Cruise's solid performances. Cruise needs to play more unpredictable and maybe villainous performances than the leading action hero and yes, he is great at that, but when he is another type of role in another genre, he solidifies as a great actor at the top of his game. It is unfortunate that this is an underrated film. Hey, you can have a great double feature with this movie and Mann's masterpiece, Heat, with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.