COLLATERAL

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo

I had already typed that Collateral was my new favorite movie of the summer, and it may very well be my most favorite movie of the second half of the summer, but to say it was my favorite movie of the summer discounts the movies from the first half of the summer, like Harry Potter 3 or Shrek 2, neither of which I actually reviewed for this site but both of which were great. So Collateral will have to take the second-half-of-the-summer honors, which it has deservedly earned.

Wow. Tom Cruise as a bad guy. At first, when reading about this movie, I was like, Eh? But I kept hearing good things about this movie, and someone talked about how this movie was a great video journal of Los Angeles at night, and for some reason, that sold me on the movie. Because if you are from LA, you will know where this movie is taking you and feel a lot more attached to it. Weird.

Anyways, here's the deal: Tom Cruise is Vincent, a very cold yet personable contract killer. Jamie Foxx is Max, the unluckiest (yet one of the best) taxi drivers around. Through sheer coincidence and for the movie's sake, Vincent gets into Max's cab and offers Max a deal very hard to turn down: $700 if Max will take Vincent to 6 stops throughout the night; Max just has to wait until Vincent completes his 'business' at each stop. Why not, right? Unfortunately for Max, Vincent's first 'visit' ends up with a body falling onto Max's cab from above. And that, my friends, ensures that the rest of the evening is not anything that Max could ever have expected.

What a ride this movie is. It's not Speed, don't get me wrong, but the emotional, dramatic, and suspenseful tones of this movie are amazing. Tom Cruise is awesome as this killer. He's definitely an anithero, because throughout the whole movie, you really don't want him to get caught. He has a rationale for his acts that is believable, and while yes, he can be brutal, he has the ability to show..... compassion? In just a really messed up way. I've never really been a fan of Jamie Foxx, mostly because his roles usually have been in the vein of over-the-top egotistical guys. But in this, he's a very normal and relatable character. You empathize with his position and see that this one guy between a rock and a hard place this evening. The third star of this movie is definitely nighttime Los Angeles. It made me homesick almost. Some of the conversations had by the characters were dead-on about Los Angeles, for better or for worse. In terms of sheer action, Collateral has some amazing scenes. There's an incredible scene at a dance club that is filmed so that you really can believe you're in the middle of this nightmarish event. Many times I had no idea what the hell was going on, which is precisely how it would be if you were there. The final act in the movie is extremely suspenseful and thrilling, which was extremely satisfying as well.

I would have to say I recommend this movie whole-heartedly. It's cool to see Tom Cruise in a villainous role. Jamie Foxx impresses. And if you want to know what LA is like at night, this movie shows you.

Shoot me an email if you have any comments!