Saturday, February 05, 2005

Interesting movie, Collateral. I think of myself as not much of a Tom Cruise fan and then he comes out with a movie like this and I have to rethink my prejudice. I think he tends to overacting where he’s probably trying to be subtle or passionate. Sometimes he misses, but as Vincent-the-hit-man he hit just about all of the right notes.

Jamie Foxx (Max) is very deserving of his supporting actor Oscar nomination for this role. Wow, was he good. He’s come a long, long way from Wanda. And it makes me really want to see Ray asap.

Overall it was strongly acted movie with solid performances from Jada Pinkett-Smith and Mark Ruffalo as well.

It starts out a little slow and I was struck by the use of a classical piece of music for several minutes when all hell breaks loose and the real action starts. Max is shocked, we’re shocked right there with him, and all we can do is go along for the ride. It’s a dark movie, both in tone and because it’s set at night. It’s violent and I found myself not so much sympathizing as understanding Vincent (much like Leon in The Professional). Max is the one we’re rooting for, though, and watching him come into his own as the movie progressed was something.

***I paused to go check Jared’s review, just to see where we may agree/disagree. His review is great but somewhat spoilerish.***

Note to Jared - you said:

In another club scene, Mann stages a claustrophic and exhilarating action sequence. Cruise’s Vincent looks awfully cool shooting up the joint, spinning around, firing guns two-fisted from a prone position on the dancefloor. Once again, it’s tempting to think, “Man, that was awesome” and forget exactly what Vincent is doing – taking lives away. To remind us, Mann throws in an excruciating plot twist at the tail end of the scene. It’s a complete surprise, one that literally took my breath away. I don’t want to give out a plot spoiler here, so I won’t say exactly what happens, but it’s a necessary shock. Mann took a calculated risk in that moment to put the preceding “stylish” deaths in context.

Absolutely.

I have to agree that it’s an excellent movie. I wish I had seen it in the theater.

4 stars out of 5.