Collateral (2004)

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Today we're reviewing Collateral.

Release Date- August 6, 2004 (USA)

Runtime- 120 mins (2 hours)

Director- Michael Mann

Producer- Michael Mann

Starring- Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Mark Ruffalo.

Scale of 1-10 (1: Don't watch it, 10: Drop everything, Go out and see this movie right now!)

Collateral = 8 out of 10!

Short Synopsis:

Max (Jamie Foxx) is just your average cab driver, taking fares from one destination to the next. One night, a fare named Vincent (Tom Cruise) comes into Max’s cab and offers to pay a large sum of cash to drive him around for the night.  Max soon finds out Vincent’s profession and ends up in a compromising situation.

The Good:

• Tom Cruise's performance in this movie was top-notch. Vincent challenged the mindset of Max with each passing minute. Cruise rarely plays a bad guy in movies and you can actually count each role on one hand.
• Jamie Foxx played an amazing supporting character. Max transformed into a different person after spending a night with Vincent. He began the movie as a timid cab driver and ended the film with enough confidence to take on Vincent.
• The plot for the film was interesting. It puts an ordinary man in a difficult position. Instead of giving to viewing public the ending they think would happen they switched it to where the good guy wins. You would never think Max had it in him to take charge and go against Vincent with a victory ending.
• The action sequences played out well. Vincent took on an overwhelming number of people and decimated them.

The Bad: 

The death of Vincent just seemed to follow a little foreshadowing. It was a weak end of a strong character. Vincent spent all night getting out of many situations just to have it end with one lucky bullet seemed disappointing. He died in the same fashion as the man in a story he heard that happened on the train and being unnoticed for six hours.

The Hypothetical:

Just imagine if the producers of this film when with their original choices for this film, Russell Crowe as Vincent and Adam Sandler as Max. It would make for a different film. Adam Sandler is capable of playing a serious role but he could take away from the film in the end. Russell Crowe would have been very interesting to see in the role of Vincent.

Questions of the week: Name the first film that featured Tom Cruise as the main protagonist. Would you like to see Tom Cruise play any more bad guy roles?

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