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Did you join Amnesty International, Oxfam, Save the Whales, Greenpeace, or something? No. I off one fat Angelino and you throw a hissy fit.

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The precept of this movie is simple. Vincent (Tom Cruise) is a hit man, in LA with an evening to kill. Max (Jamie Fox) is the cab driver who picks him up as a fare. Vincent offers Max $600 to stay with him and ferry him between business meetings. It all goes very wrong when an unfortunate event alerts Max to his passenger’s real agenda. What follows is the film noir version of a buddy movie. The two protagonists discuss life, liberty and apple pie as they drive between appointments. The movie builds suspense as the evening approaches its inevitable conclusion.

Once, I ordered cake in a restaurant. It was a fine dining establishment that only used certified organic ingredients. They had a famous, award winning chef who was world renowned for his deserts. The cake was perfectly baked and served, but the cake contained cinnamon. I just don’t like cinnamon so, unfortunately, I did not like this cake.

In collateral, Michael Mann has baked a very fine cake. He is a master chef with credits including Ali, Heat, The Insider and The Last of the Mohicans. He has the finest cast with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx both giving stellar, Oscar worthy performances. Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, and Javier Bardem are all excellent in supporting roles, although their appearances are almost brief enough to be cameos. Mann knows LA, and uses its shadowy, lamp lit streets as almost an extra character to set the mood. The cinematography is superb, the dialog crisp, witty and sinister. The pacing, though not fast, is never slow. This is indeed a worthy cake, but it contained cinnamon, so I just did not like it.

I have tried hard to figure out why this movie did not click for me. It certainly wasn’t Cruise. His characterization is superb. Vincent is ruthless, amoral, efficient and deadly. He is not evil, however. To be evil he would have to take some pleasure out of what he does. Vincent is simply indifferent. He erases people with as little emotion as I erase a typo in this review. Jamie Foxx as Max provides a fine foil. Although a dreamer and an underachiever, he is educated, hardworking and kind. Overall, he is a good man.

Yet, despite the excellent performances, direction and dialogue, I just did not care about most of the characters in the movie. Perhaps it was the heavy handed opening, which gave the end away before Cruise even enters the cab, making it hard to build any suspense. Perhaps it was the dearth of meaningful characters other than the leads. When the inevitable big shootout scene happens near the end, tight editing and lack of involvement leave you flat. I had no idea who lived, who died, and perhaps more importantly, I did not care. I understand that Vincent was indifferent to the killing, but when that indifference spreads to the audience then there is a problem.

So there you go, a very fine movie that I personally did not like. I was not bored, but I was not entranced either. When an unexpected event forced me to stop viewing half way through, I did not feel any urgent compunction to restart it, waiting two days before I saw the end. It was entertaining and brilliant, without being involving. Still, opinions differ, and it is certainly worth four stars, and the price of a rental.

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Rating: With bad language and extreme violence, this probably is not suitable for younger children.

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Collateral (2004)

Directed by Michael Mann
Written by Stuart Beattie

Cast:
Tom Cruise .... Vincent
Jamie Foxx .... Max
Jada Pinkett Smith .... Annie
Mark Ruffalo .... Fanning
Javier Bardem… Felix


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older