Movie Review:
‘Collateral’
Mixes Action,
Philosophy
By: Eliot John
Hagen
(December 20, 2004)
In
his first truly villainous role, Tom Cruise delivers an astounding
portrayal of
veteran assassin Vincent. Co-starring Jamie Foxx, who plays innocent Los
Angeles taxi driver Max, winds up with Vincent
in his
cab, and that’s how the story starts.
Vincent, a deadly assassin who has been
hired to kill four
key witnesses and a prosecuting attorney, offers Max $600 to drive him
around
LA for a “real estate deal.”
Vincent’s plans, are, however,
foiled when
his first target falls out of a window and lands on Max’s cab. This forces him to take Max hostage as his
driver, as opposed to carrying his missions out in anonymity.
Cruise does an amazing job, and it’s not just action.
There are some good jokes (that are
thankfully not out of line,) and it’s a philosophical film. Cruise’s theories about death and killing
seem sadistic at first, but, once you think about them, they make sense. Vincent is not just some evil Bond type
killer. He’s an incredibly interesting
character.
With a good dose of action, suspense, and
philosophy, along
with a superb performance by Cruise, ‘Collateral’ is a film that stands
out on
the “New Releases” shelf in Blockbuster.