Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller, Drama, Suspense, Drugs, Hostage, Murder, Gangsters, Mistaken Identity, Police, Detectives
Tagline: It started like any other night.
Plot: Max (Jamie Foxx) has lived the mundane life of a cab driver for 12 years. The faces have come and gone from his rearview mirror, people and places he’s long since forgotten…until tonight. Vincent (Tom Cruise) is a contract killer. When an offshore narco-trafficking cartel learns they are about to be indicted by a federal grand jury, they mount an operation to identify and kill the key witnesses, and the last stage is tonight. Tonight, Vincent arrives in L.A….and five bodies are supposed to fall.Circumstances cause Vincent to hijack Max’s taxicab, and Max becomes collateral—an expendable person in the wrong place at the wrong time. Through the night Vincent forces Max to drive him to each assigned destination. And as the LAPD and FBI race to intercept them, Max and Vincent’s survival becomes dependent on each other in ways neither would have
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 Discussion forum for this movie
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 Collateral is more compelling because of the interaction between Vincent and Max than because of the gunplay, violence, and chase scenes. The screenplay seems smarter than it actually is.  --James Berardinelli (ReelViews)
Tom Cruise is simply no match for Jamie Foxx and Jada Pinkett Smith in this thriller from "The Insider" director Michael Mann.--Stephanie Zacharek (Salon)
Cruise and the filmmakers bring a great deal more to his character than we expect in a thriller. ... This is a rare thriller that's as much character study as sound and fury.  --Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)
It's a movie made with skill by talented people, which in this summer is just as needed as mindless explosions and car chases. B+--Craig Younkin (Lee's Movie Info)
This is an enjoyable film that pays more attention to the human drama of its subject than of being thrilled. B---Lee Tistaert (Lee's Movie Info)
Devoid of the scope of Heat or the gritty intensity of The Insider, it posits itself in slightly more modest terms -- a summer film for grown-ups, delivering verve and intelligence along with its pulsing visuals. B+--Rob Vaux (Flipsidemovies.com)
Even bending the limits of the structure, Mann has a winner on his hands with “Collateral.” If anyone has lost patience with Tom Cruise or Jamie Foxx, this is the film to see. A---Brian Orndorf (FilmJerk.com)
...there is no mistaking that the film is one of the best of the year, and one that will likely become one of those watershed works that cinemaphiles and generations of filmmakers study for many years to come, to pinpoint why it works so exceedingly well. A+--Edward Havens (FilmJerk.com)
With the sleek and kinetic thriller ‘Collateral’, director Michael Mann has fashioned his best film since ‘The Insider’ and his most remarkable action film since ‘Heat.’  --Joe Rickey (Movie-Gurus.com)
Collateral maintains a rough and frenetic pace. Even though its ending may adhere to form, the film as a whole feels very different.--Mark Sells (CineScene)
Michael Mann once again shows us why he's one of the best directors in the business, a man who cares about what he does. He's not interested in cheap, in-your-face thrills; he wants us to leave the theater with something hanging over our heads. Collateral achieves that very feeling.  --Lee Chase IV (CultureDose.net)
It's the carnival aspect of Cruise's performance which hooks you into this story. Even with originality, Collateral still has many contemporary thematic counterparts. One night of hell. 8/10--Julian Boyance (Movie-Vault.com)
Anchored by two fantastic lead performances the film is an ideal piece of summer entertainment. But when you've got someone like Mann behind the camera, it's impossible not to expect more than just a well-made action flick. --David Nusair (Reel Film Reviews)
If you've spent your summer searching for the proverbial "edge of your seat" at the movies, you'll definitely find it seeing Collateral, because that's where you'll be for nearly the entire movie.  --Brian Gallagher (MovieWeb)
To quote the movie: It's cool. Which means it's good, but not ready. Thanks, Mister Mann, for summing it up in a discretionary bit of dialogue. Those were my thoughts exactly...Someone, please, buy this man a pair of scissors. Make 'em sharp. And force the mother f'er to use 'em.  --B. Alan Whorange (MovieWeb)
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| Cast |
Tom Cruise
War of the Worlds, Minority Report, Magnolia |
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 | Mark Ruffalo
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 13 Going On 30, Windtalkers |
 | Peter Berg
Cop Land, The Last Seduction, Corky Romano |
 | Bruce McGill
The Insider, The Sum of All Fears, Animal House |
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| It’s easy to get caught up in COLLATERAL, improbabilities aside. Instead of nitpicking, be in the moment, enjoy the ride, and remember, it’s all just popcorn. --Andrea Chase (Killer Movie Reviews)
Mann's deliberate pace, typical of his movies -- this is one of his shortest, and it's two hours long -- wears on me a bit; I'm not always certain why a particular scene goes on as long as it does, or why another one is included at all. B--Eric D. Snider (EricDSnider.com)
"Collateral" remains a taut, effective film and Cruise's against-type turn alone is worth the admission price, it's just too bad Michael Mann couldn't stick to his guns and give us a thoroughly offbeat ride. --Kevin N. Laforest (Montreal Film Journal)
The sort of movie that embarrasses others in its genre, showing how action/ crime movies can be done when they’re handled by folks who really know what they’re doing. 85/100--Brian Webster (Apollo Guide)
In fact, the whole movie is something of a joke, a feature-length prank that mixes stark violence and shock humor in the mold of Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction." --Jack Mathews (New York Daily News)
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