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Collateral (2004)
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Movie Review by Justin 
January 30th, 2006
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Michael Mann is a hack artist, but there's no denying he's a brilliant stylist. This flick -- his best yet -- is vividly alive from the get go. Tom Cruise is sharp as ever as a contract killer named Vincent who drags unsuspecting cabbie Max (Jamie Foxx) along for an all-night tour of L.A., highlighted by a series of killings. In Heat-like fashion, the high point here is the dialogue, which in this case is ingeniously contrived yet manages an air of offbeat realism. Stuart Beattie's script looks like a thriller, but thinks and moves like a philosophical roundelay. The movie feels so simple and natural, but what Beattie and Mann pull off is subtly brilliant. In hindsight we notice how tightly constructed it is, that everything hangs on the thread of a narrow theme – a basic existential question – and yet, once fleshed out, the movie feels wild, unhinged, and unpredictable. To add, the mix of traditional and digital film techniques gives the movie a popping, felt sense of urgency – corny as it sounds, the city at night becomes a main character. This is the best in elevated crime drama – less on the crime, a lot more drama.
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