COLLATERAL

US, 2004, 120 minutes, Colour.
Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, Bruce Mc Gill, Peter Berg.
Directed by Michael Mann.

When Tom Cruise’s name appeared alongside that of Jamie Foxx on the posters for Collateral, there were some cynical remarks that Cruise’s career was on a downward path. No longer sole billing above the title. Be the billing as it may, Collateral gives us a very strong Cruise performance – as is that of Jamie Foxx.

Collateral is a very satisfying thriller. The action sequences are well executed, though stretching credibility more than a little at times (the shootout in the club, the pursuit to and through the LA Subway). The dialogue is much more interesting than in most thrillers. Cruise, as the cold stone-killer, has a lot to say about life, about death, about executions and about the place of men and women in the grand scheme of things. Foxx, as the taxi driver with dreams of running his own perfect limousine service with a top clientele, has a lot to say about life and passengers, about ambitions and frustrations and about morality. Collateral, therefore, is an intelligent thriller.

Direction is by Michael Mann who these days is put on a pedestal by many critics. After all, he directed the first Hannibal Lecter film, Manhunter, back in the 1980s when he was producing Miami Vice. He has also directed The Last of the Mohicans, Hear, The Insider and Ali, not a bad record.

Shooting digitally, he brings Los Angeles to life, especially since the action time is from evening to dawn, a Los Angeles nightlife. The musical score is continually changing in style, from piano solos to jazz, to orchestrated accompaniment. Collateral is satisfying visually and aurally.

There are some memorable sequences: the visit to the Jazz Club and the reminiscences of the trumpeter who played once with Miles Davis, the interview with the gangster chief (Javier Bardem) where Foxx pretends to be Cruise and gradually rises to the occasion, outsmarting the gangsters, the finale in the train which fulfils a story Cruise tells about a dead man riding the subway for hours before anyone noticed he was dead.

Cruise, with his silvered hair, his dress suit and his guns, gives an effective performance, playing well off Foxx’s warmly human interpretation of an LA taxi driver. The main focus is well supported by collateral benefits of screenplay and technique.

1. The impact of the drama? The action? The conversations? The importance of discussion and intelligent talk? The combination of action and talk?

2. Los Angeles as a character of the film, the different cameras used, the different colour styles, angles? The streets, the buildings, interiors and exteriors? The taxi perspective on the city? The train?

3. The musical score, the range of styles, quiet piano, jazz, songs? For the different moods?

4. The title – each collateral for the other? The collateral for each of them in their own lives?

5. The structure of the film: the director saying that all we saw was the third act in a three-act drama, the characters filling out the background and the back-stories? The action taking place between six pm and five am? A night journey, a dark journey? Finishing with the dawn? Death and life?

6. The initial introduction to Vincent, Tom Cruise and his appearance, his hair, the stubble, the smart suit, the case, the exchange at the airport? His business in Los Angeles? Needing a taxi?

7. The introduction to Max, with the men at the taxi centre, the discussions with his boss, his own taxi, neat and clean, his dream of the island and the postcard in a prominent place, his getting Annie as a passenger, the bet about times and distances, the irony of this for the end of the film? The pleasant discussions, the revelation of each character, the rapport between them in a few brief minutes? His dreams, her confessing her nervousness about the case – and the preparation for the rest of the film involving her case? Her giving him the card?

8. Max, taking Vincent, their initial discussions, the case, the computer? The first trip, Vincent and the conversation, offering the deal with the six hundred dollars? Max and his being difficult to persuade? His waiting, the crash of the body on the taxi, his reaction, Vincent and his pulling the gun, forcing Max to move the body, put it in the trunk of the taxi? Max and his reaction, in denial, unwilling and unable to help? Vincent taking charge? The going to the apartment, the second killing? The irony of the police stopping the taxi, and the irony that it was because of the initial murder that they didn’t look in the trunk?

9. The strong attention given to the discussions between Vincent and Max? Vincent and his background, the made-up story about his father and killing him? Laughing? Six years as a professional killer? His sense of the bond with Max? Talking about coincidence, cosmic coincidences? The police giving information about Vincent’s previous drivers and their being killed and made to look as if they were the killers? Vincent and his being literate, his talking to Max’s boss on the phone, using the legal arguments? His taunting of Max about his life, about not ringing Annie? The dream of the limousine service? Max, his response, his own life, the twelve years of taxi-driving, the dream about the limousine service, the brochure, his wanting everything to be perfect? His boss ringing, Vincent putting him off? Getting Max to swear at him? His mother’s phone calls? Max and his reaction to Vincent going to visit his mother, in the hospital, the irony of Fanning in the elevator with them? Vincent and his buying the flowers, the pressure on Max? Max’s mother, her being all talk, her neglecting her son, her being charmed by Vincent and talking with him? The build-up to Max and his running away, Vincent’s pursuit?

10. The role of the police, Fanning as undercover, discovering that his client had been killed, the other officers coming in? The reconstructing of the scene, speculation, the background of the drug case? The steps of investigation? Going to the hospital, Fanning at the morgue, the bodies, the information of the patterns for the deaths? His phone call, the other officer coming, their meeting the police at the hotel? Their stakeout? The closed-circuit television, hearing Max say that he was Vincent? Their discussions, conclusions? The police going into the nightclub to protect the Chinese witness? Fanning believing that Max was innocent, his following in the car? The police and the mix-up at the crowded club, the shoot-out, Fanning trying to protect Max, his being killed by Vincent?

11. Max and his waiting, flicking the lights of the car, hoping to get help, the muggers coming and taking his wallet, the computer – and Vincent accosting them, shooting them?

12. The serious discussions between Max and Vincent, each challenging the other about their lives? Max and his running, throwing the computer, destroying it? The decision to go to Felix? Vincent and his putting the pressure on Max, making him assume his identity, use his ingenuity to get past security, his succeeding? His going to Felix, the long discussion about the lost computer, the gradual transition, Max taking charge and becoming more confident, getting the disc with the information, offering the discount?

13. Going to the Fever Club, the police helicopters, the police? Vincent forcing Max to go in? the crowded scene, people not being able to see the others, the Chinese people, the shooting? Max being saved by Vincent? The assassination complete, the return to the taxi? Max feeling he had nothing to lose, his decision to crash the taxi, the speeding, overturned? Their each getting out?

14. The irony of Max seeing that Annie was the next target? His card, running, the phone, her still being at work, his getting her, her disbelief? The batteries running out? Vincent and his stalking Annie in the building? Annie and her work, the lights going out, her trying to avoid Vincent? Max and his going into the building, the dead guards? The three stalking each other in the building? The shooting? Vincent being injured? The pursuit down the stairs, along the bridge, into the subway? The trains, Vincent’s dilemma as to which train they went on? His going down, their hiding in the train, Vincent getting in and out? His being on the back of the train, going through the carriages? The eventual confrontation? The shoot-out, Vincent and his being injured, sitting on the seat? Annie and Max coming in, Vincent remembering a story about loneliness and impersonality in Los Angeles and the dead man sitting for hours on the subway before he was discovered?

15. Annie and Max, their escape, their facing the next day? The irony of Annie surviving – but all her witnesses being dead?

16. The importance of the victim in the jazz bar, Vincent saying he liked jazz, his admiration for the player, offering him a drink? Their discussions? The reminiscences and the stories about Miles Davis? Vincent and the revelation that he was the killer, the jazz man trying to bargain, the story of his life, trying to survive? Vincent’s promise and then shooting him?

17. The intricacy of the plot, the irony of the coincidences, Vincent and Max together, Max and Annie together, the police, the witnesses, life and death?