A review of : Collateral (2004)

Starring : Jamie Foxx (Max), Tom Cruise (Vincent), Jada Pinkett Smith (Annie), Mark Ruffalo (Fanning)

Director : Michael Mann

Studio : Paramount Pictures

Genre : Thriller

Running time : 120'

MPAA rating : -12

My rating : 4 out of 5

A story about an unlucky taxi driver

Synopsis : Max is an ordinary night taxi driver in Los Angeles. One day he drives for Annie, a lawyer, and as they are chating, they start being friends. After the ride, he takes another customer, Vincent, who pretends to have people to see. Max accepts to drive all night for him for 600$.

After the first stop, a gunshot is heard and a corpse falls on the hood of the taxi. The man who claimed to be a simple businessman was actually a skilled hitman who threatened Max to kill him if he broke the contract.

With a smart and relentless freelancer, five targets to eliminate and a determined FBI agent chasing him, the taxi driver will live the longest night in his life...

Positive points : The first reason why I loved this film is because there are plot twists that make us want to see the rest of the film. The first time I saw it I was very excited by what could happen next. There are good camera shots and the music fits really well with the film. It really creates an atmosphere which brings you in the film and I've founded really interesting that the film is excellent even if most of the scenes happens in the taxi.

Negative points : The thing that disturbed me the most in this film is the fact that some scenes are boring, nothing happens, they just talk for a very long time. The film haven't got real problem beside that.

Characterization : The characters are very endearing, the innocent taxi driver but also the mean freelancer, because he have a philosophy that is very interesting. The federal agents, instead of the two main characters, aren't very important, they only got one scene where they are really in the scenario. Jamie Foxx is pretty good as a taxi driver and it's very interesting to see him changing during the film but theres sometimes where he exaggerates his role.

                                                                                                                     

Tom Cruise is absolutely perfect as the calm and cold hitman, he his a hundred percent in his character, Vincent. He's very charismatic and have a very interesting opinion about the world, he always have something to say, and it's very interesting to listen to a killer. We're like «I thought killers weren't intelligents !» and that's also what makes, sometimes, the film boring. Probably no one can identify himself as a philosophic hitman, but almost everyone can think like the taxi driver, and it's very immersive to see very different main characters talking to each other and debate about what's wrong and what's good. Some persons can hate Vincent, simply because he can be smart and everything but he still is a murderer, but personally he's my favorite character.

   

To conclude, that thriller keeps you on the edge of your seat for about every moment, you are like «What is he about to do now ?» Because each character is very unstable. Max can panic at every moment and Vincent can kill Max at every moment, and that's what I found the most interesting. It's a good way to make the spectator ask himself what's going to happen next. I really advise everyone to see the film, just to see the amazing ending.