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COLLATERAL
Review by Gordon Justesen
Stars: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter
Berg, Bruce McGill
Director: Michael Mann
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, Dolby Surround, French Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
Studio: Dreamworks
Features: See Review
Length: 120 Minutes
Release Date: December 14, 2004
“MAX…I
DO THIS FOR A LIVING!”
Film
****
Movies like Collateral
are why I love films and reviewing them. Believe me when I say that there
hasn’t been a, pardon the term, cooler film in years.
Michael Mann is one
of my all time favorite filmmakers. He serves as sort of a poet of tales
involving crime and morality. He also happens to have one of the best visual
eyes of any single director in the history of cinema, in my honest opinion. Any
time you’re watching one of his films, you know its Mann behind the camera
simply because nobody shoots a movie like he does.
After doing two
fact based films, The Insider and Ali,
Mann returns to the genre he knows best with Collateral,
a sleek and brilliant action thriller/morality play that boasts a magnificent
cast, a tightly wound story, and a remarkable use of L.A. as more than just a
setting, but perhaps the most vital character in the film. Mann knows this city
better than any other director, as seen in his masterful Heat, and Collateral is
his best piece of work since that film.
The movie opens
with Max (Jamie Foxx), an L.A. cabdriver who is about to begin another late
shift on what seems to be an ordinary night. After a string of typically
irritating fares, he picks up a friendly and pretty lawyer named Annie (Jada
Pinkett Smith). They get to talking and soon get acquainted after Max offers a
free ride after betting he can get her to work on a more convenient route. She
in turn gives Max her phone number, which has just made his day.
The next fare Max
picks up, and at the last minute, is a calm and well dressed man who introduces
himself as Vincent (Tom Cruise). After being impressed with Max’s efficient
driving, he makes an offer to the cab driver. He will give him a cool six one
hundred dollar bills if he can get him to the five stops he needs to make before
making an early morning flight out of LAX. Following some slight hesitance, Max
accepts the offer.
Though Max feels he
may have gotten slightly in over his head by accepting the private job, it’s a
far cry from how he feels once it’s revealed who Vincent is. At the first
stop, Max is stunned to discover a dead body has fallen right on top of his cab.
He’s even more stunned when Vincent, who introduced himself as a real estate
broker, administered the killing. He introduced himself as a real estate broker,
but is actually a contract killer.
The body falling on
the cab was an accident, but Vincent has no choice but to hold Max at gunpoint
and make sure the offer goes as planned. Max is forced to wrestle with his
conscience, as the idea of driving someone to make hit after hit doesn’t sit
too well with him. Vincent assures him that if remains calm; he will make it
through the night alive and with more money than originally offered.
Although what
I’ve just described may sound like a traditional hostage thriller, Collateral
is anything but. The character of Vincent isn’t a one-dimensional wacko, and
Tom Cruise once again delivers a magnificent revelation in a razor sharp
performance. Vincent isn’t perceived as a psychopath killer, but a man who has
a job to do and intends on getting it done. In addition, he calls out Max to
confront the state of denial he’s in, such as the ongoing dream he has about
opening up his own limo company, despite being stuck in the same deadbeat job
for twelve years.
As the night rolls
on, an undercover cop named Fanning (Mark Ruffalo) starts to suspect that
something isn’t right. One of his undercover contacts has gone missing, and
once getting word of more dead bodies of key figures in a drug operation,
Fanning believes that someone is in town to keep a certain someone from being
indicted in an upcoming case.
Collateral throws in some superbly nice touches at unexpected places. There’s a
remarkably tense scene where Vincent and Max go to a jazz club. The two have a
chat with a jazz trumpeter who recalls a night he got to play alongside Miles
Davis. This scene feels like rare happy moment, but with a small transition the
scene takes on a whole new meaning adding up to one of the darkest moments in
the film. Another unexpected scene has Vincent forcing Max to visit his sick
mother (Irma P. Hall) in the hospital.
A key moment in the
film is an outstanding action sequence that takes place inside a nightclub. It
demonstrates that when Michael Mann executes action in his movies, it’s done
with the utmost effectiveness. This tension in this sequence is unrelenting, and
the build up to it is mind blowing.
Mann’s use of
music in the movie is phenomenal. The nightclub sequence is accompanied by Paul
Oakenfold’s energetic “Ready Steady Go”. Perhaps the most effective use of
music is the song “Shadow of the Sun” by Audioslave, which happens to be my
favorite rock band at the moment. That song finds its way into the movie not
once, but twice at pivotal moments. The lyrics perfectly resonate with the
characters and the mood. It’s as if we were watching a whole new episode of
Mann’s Miami Vice, which had many
notable music cues.
Of all the doses of
brilliance to be found in Collateral,
the most important element is the look of the film. Mann has made a bold choice
to shoot 90% of the movie in a hi-definition process called ViperStream. Through
this innovative process, the camera is able to give a whole lot more detail in
the frame, especially in the background. Los Angeles has never looked more
amazing on film. Mann’s use of this technique has resulted in a bold looking
film with images that have to be seen to be appreciated. No other film of this
year is more worthy of the Oscar for cinematography.
With its two strong
caliber turns from Cruise and Jamie Foxx and a dose of visual brilliance from
style master Michael Mann, Collateral
is a remarkably made character driven/thriller. It’s now in the running for my
pick of best film of the year, and deserves to be noticed come Oscar time.
Video
****
Watching this movie
in the theater, one of the first thoughts that went through my mind was how good
this was going to look on DVD. This particular hi-def filming process of Collateral,
which had never been used on any other movie, would definitely ensure a landmark
looking disc. The end result is
what has got my vote for best video performance of the year. The anamorphic
picture, courtesy of Dreamworks, is nothing short of breathtaking as the hi-def
picture illuminates the screen. Image quality is thoroughly clear and extremely
detailed, as there isn’t a single thing in the frame that goes unnoticed.
It’s rare that a film shot almost entirely at night would result as a
monumental looking disc, but it has been achieved.
Audio
****
The 5.1 mix
provided makes its presence felt right from the start of the film. The level of
dynamic range simply never ends. The sounds of Los Angeles are felt in just
about every moment. Dialogue delivery is incredibly clear as can be. The
strongest areas are the key moments of action and use of music, be it the songs
on the soundtrack or the superb score by James Newton Howard. It adds up to a
DVD sound performance to be remembered.
Features
***1/2
Although a worthy
commentary track is nowhere to be found, this 2-disc offering from Dreamworks
does include enough to make this an exceptional release. There are two very well
made documentaries, “City of Night: The Making of Collateral” and a look at
the use of visual effects during the climatic scene on the MTA Train. Also
featured is footage of Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx rehearsing, and a special
segment showing Cruise getting into character. Lastly, there are bonus previews
and production notes.
Summary: