Collateral (2004)

                                             Collateral (2004)

                                                a review by

                                               Wahid Sharif

There's a scene in "Collateral" where Vincent (Tom Cruise) attempts to educate Max (Jamie Foxx) on the nuances of Jazz, and how you have look beyond the surface of the notes to feel and understand the impact of the music. "It's all in the inprovisation", as Vincent tells Max. In a way, "Collateral" feels like a fine piece of Jazz with shifts in mood, tone, and moments that feel freshly improvised. Although the film is structured like a typical crime thriller, it's what's beneath the genre conventions to discover all the complexities of the main characters and situations. This is combined with the sense that what we're seeing on screen really feels like it's happening now. This film is fine return to form for Director Michael Mann (after the muddled, incomplete, and inaccurate "Ali") who shows that he's among the best ever in the genre he's most comfortable with: The crime genre. In this film, he presents Los Angeles at night in possibly the most gritty and dangerously beautiful way ever done on film (And video. The scenes at night were shot in digital video).

Tom Cruise turns in a chilling performance as Vincent, a contract killer who arrives in Los Angeles to kill five people who are in connection with a case against a crime boss named Felix (Javier Bardem). When we first see the well dressed, gray-haired Vincent, he's at the airport exchanging briefcases with a complete "stranger". He gets into the taxicab of the sweet, reserved and good-natured Max (Jamie Foxx in a solid and complex performance) and lures Max with his charm and six-hundred bucks to drive him around the city all night to see some "friends". Vincent goes to see his first "friend" and a body crashes on top of Max's cab. Max quickly exits the cab out of shock and horror (albeit comically), and soon he realizes the charming passenger he's just picked up isn't really seeing some friends (If Vincent were really seeing some friends, then he has a helluva way of showing his friendship). This doesn't become about the six-hundred bucks anymore as Vincent forces Max to drive him around to from place to place to make his rounds of killing the people he's been hired to kill.

The pure joy and heart of the film is the interaction between Vincent and Max. Through this interaction, we get a sense of who they are, and the dimensions in their psychological makeup. In Vincent, he's intelligent, charming, and seems to be a person you'd hang out with. Instead, we discover that he's a bit of a sociopath who kills without a single trace of remorse. It can be argued that yes, he's in the profession that he's in, so he has to be that way. However, a lesser film would not dug deep into the backstory of his character the way "Collateral" does. Here we fully understand, through his abusive childhood, why Vincent is the way he is. No one has ever really loved him his whole life - Therefore, he grows not to value life or anything sentimental as he is cold and indifferent(A perfect example is the scene where a Jazz club owner looks back fondly and sentimentally on playing with Miles Davis, and Vincent, with his charm, pretends to be interested). Although, he's the way he is, we still in some warped way, root for Vincent as he makes his rounds killing people because he's so charismatic, bright, and likeable. Also, the people he's been hired to kill are considered to be bad people themselves.

Well, everyone except Annie (Jada Pinkett Simth) a federal prosecutor in the case against Felix. In the very beginning of the film (It's wonderful sequence) Max picks up Annie in his cab and they have a sweet and engrossing conversation that is in some way a bit flirtatious. However, in this conversation, they open up and share some things about themselves. Annie, is a tough prosecutor who cries before a big case and Max has dreams of running his own limosuine service. Max has a good head on his shoulders, and he's a dreamer (He keeps a picture of a tropical island in his cab to "take a vacation" several times a day). But, Max is also an underachiever in life, and he's a bit sheltered. Driving that cab is the perfect metaphor for how sheltered he is, as it cocoons him from not only the hustle and bustle of the world, but possibly his own dreams and aspirations that deep down he knows won't ever happen (Vincent quotes John Lennon and tells Max, "Life is what happens when you're making other plans"). Yet, during this wild and bizzare night, having Vincent in his cab is possibly the best thing to happen to Max as Vincent encourages him to take more chances and get out of his comfort zone. Interacting with Max, may be the best thing to happen to Vincent in the since that Max represents the humanity that's been lost in him for a long time (In one scene, Max tells Vincent: "You lack standard parts that's supposed to be there in most people"). However, Vincent is like those pack of coyotes who roam through the dark streets during one point in the film, coming from the wild to make his way through civilization, living the only way he knows how...By instinct.

GRADE:  A

                Wahid Sharif

moodybastard_717@hotmail.com

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