The
major publicity approach to the new Michael Mann film revolves around the fact
that in Collateral Tom Cruise, his
trim beard and hair dyed gray, undertakes a role very different from most of
his previous star turns.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย In a departure from such previous
work as the engaging title character of Jerry
Maguire, the action hero of Mission:
Impossible, the passive protagonist of the agonizingly pretentious Eyes Wide Shut, or the rich wastrel of
the bizarre and puzzling Vanilla Sky,
Cruise plays a cold-blooded contract killer named Vincent, not only a bad guy,
but a very bad guy, who pursues a sort of murder marathon throughout the
picture. The movie and the character allow Cruise to display some relatively
unexplored areas and possibilities of his screen persona, to transform the
bland, handsome leading man into a real actor.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Employing a constant rhythmic
crosscutting, the director demonstrates the working out of a dark and curious
destiny in the relationship of Cruise’s character and Max (Jamie Foxx), the cab
driver he engages to transport him around Los Angeles for his night
of mayhem. The random intervention of chance initially brings them together,
but a sort of fate governs their subsequent actions.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Vincent simply happens to take Max’s
cab from the airport and, impressed by its cleanliness and Max’s knowledge of
the city — one professional respecting another — offers him a nice bundle
of money to engage him for the night, so that he can, as he says, pay a visit
to five friends; after that, all hell breaks loose.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย While Max sits in his taxi waiting
for Vincent at the first stop, a dead body, Vincent’s handiwork, crashes onto
his windshield; the horrified driver naturally wants out of the job, but
Vincent’s pistol persuades him to continue. After that shock, Max must witness
and, albeit unwillingly, assist in the series of homicides, which incidentally
lead to several more killings than the original contract stipulated. All the
while, during the strange nocturnal odyssey, the two men discuss their
differences, especially Max’s natural distaste for Vincent’s profession, and
the killer’s icy neutrality toward his work and his victims.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย As they traverse the city,
encountering more mishaps and dangers than they expected, the two men also
forge something resembling a connection, almost a bizarre kind of friendship,
despite the chasm of belief and behavior that separates them. When Vincent
forces Max to confront a drug dealer, he effectively impersonates a tough and
dangerous gunman himself, managing to escape harm and even inspire some fear
and respect in the dealer and his thugs. At the same
time, despite his chilly nihilism, now and then Vincent betrays a touch of
introspection, even melancholy, sensing perhaps other possibilities beyond the
negative act of his cold, efficient killing.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The temporary swap of personalities
culminates in the most skillful sequence in a movie that depends heavily on
slick and exciting camera work. Max enters a crowded nightclub, with the usual
dancers bouncing all over the place, to confront another of Vincent’s
prospective victims; Vincent follows him, while the police, the FBI, and the
thugs attempt to capture and/or kill one or another of the men.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย The camera catches the confusion and
danger, moving through the crowd of dancers, following the separate patterns of
all the pursuers and their quarry, keeping the action tense with quick cuts and
tight closeups, a terrific sequence in an extremely
well-made motion picture.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Despite the element of randomness
that initiates and frequently impedes the action, Collateral finally comes full circle, fulfilling a kind of promise
that Vincent unknowingly utters at the beginning. The concluding sequence
implies that destiny rather than chance governs the universe of the film, that
the choices a character makes may ultimately follow an unexpected pattern with
unpredicted consequences through the operation of some external force.
Throughout the movie Vincent lectures Max about his own belief in the
meaninglessness of any individual life and the necessity of defining oneself
through action, a combination of nihilism and existentialism that Max cannot
accept; at the end he learns a lesson different from the one he preaches.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Tom Cruise delivers the crisp, smart
dialogue with an offhand casualness that indicates the cold, wised-up
competence of his character. His good looks, diminutive stature, and sharp
clothing actually place him in the great tradition of American movie gangsters
— small, dapper, precise, and vicious men who charm and attract at the same
time they commit the acts of a psychopath. It is no mean achievement, and Tom
Cruise carries it off.
Collateral, starring Tom
Cruise, Jamie Foxx, JadaPinkett
Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Irma
P. Hall, Barry Shabaka Henley, James Bardam; written by Stuart Beattie; directed by Michael
Mann. CinemarkTinseltown;
Loews Webster; Pittsford Plaza Cinema; Regal Culver Ridge; Regal Greece Ridge;
Regal Henrietta.
This article appears in Aug 11-17, 2004.
