Collateral is a 2004 crime thriller film starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. It was directed by Michael Mann and written by Stuart Beattie.
The film is set in Los Angeles, California though the original screenplay set the story in New York City. In an HBO movie review, director Michael Mann stated that the film takes place on the night of January 24 to 25, 2004 from 6:30 PM to 5:40 AM.
The film is notable for the rare villainous role that Tom Cruise plays. There was substantial praise for the performance of Jamie Foxx, including a Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination.
Plot
Cab driver Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx) drives U.S. Justice Department prosecutor Annie Farrell (Jada Pinkett Smith) to work. During the drive, she tells him about an upcoming case she's prosecuting and he tells her about his dream of owning his own limousine service. Annie leaves Max her business card. Moments later, Max picks up a man named Vincent (Tom Cruise), who was seen earlier exchanging a briefcase with a stranger (Jason Statham) at Los Angeles International Airport.
Vincent directs him to a tenement building, and impressed with Max's efficiency, asks him to be his personal chauffeur for his remaining stops. Max reluctantly agrees for extra pay. Minutes later, a body drops onto the cab. Max realizes Vincent killed the man, and unable to escape, he is forced to help Vincent.
Vincent reveals that he is a hitman, and that he is in Los Angeles to murder five people before departing in the morning. Originally hoping to keep his occupation a secret, Vincent forces Max to drive him to his other destinations. While Vincent assassinates his second target, Max tries to arouse the attention of passers by to free him, but the people that respond steal his wallet and Vincent's briefcase. As they walk away, Vincent appears, asks for the briefcase back, and then guns the thugs down.
Vincent tells Max that he has a few minutes, and that he's a jazz fan. At a jazz bar he invites the owner, Daniel (Barry Shabaka Henley), for a drink with himself and Max. After the club closes, Vincent reveals to Daniel the purpose of his visit, but offers to spare his life if he can answer a question correctly: "where did Miles Davis learn music?" Daniel replies with an answer he believes is correct, but Vincent shoots him three times and gives a different answer to his question.
Max receives a call on the taxi dispatch to visit his hospitalized mother, Ida (Irma P. Hall). During the visit, Max steals Vincent's briefcase and hurls it onto the nearby freeway, destroying the details on Vincent's next hits. Angry, Vincent sends Max into a Mexican club owned by Felix (Javier Bardem), the man who hired Vincent, ordering Max to impersonate him and acquire a backup USB flash drive containing the information for the last two targets. Max meets Felix and acquires the flash drive.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles Police Detective Fanning (Mark Ruffalo) discovers a connection between Vincent's three victims, reporting this information to the FBI agents, lead by Pedrosa (Bruce McGill), doing surveillance on Felix's nightclub, who identify the deceased as witnesses for a trial against Felix beginning the next day. The FBI assembles a SWAT team and travels to a Korean night club, where Vincent's fourth target is partying. Both the FBI and Vincent converge on the witness simultaneously, igniting a fierce gunfight that disables the SWAT team and throws the crowded club into a panic, allowing Vincent to kill the fourth witness and his bodyguards and disappear. Detective Fanning rescues Max and drags him outside only to be shot by Vincent, who beckons Max back into his cab.
Following their hasty getaway, Max, particularly incensed by Vincent gunning down Fanning, deliberately crashes and flips the cab in the middle of the street. Vincent emerges from the car, abandons Max, and runs. An arriving police officer discovers the first victim in Max's trunk and prepares to arrest Max, who complies until he notices the face of the fifth intended victim is Annie, his earlier cab fare.
Max overpowers the policeman and runs towards Annie's office building. He reaches Annie on a stolen cell phone and warns her about Vincent's approach. Max enters the building and stops the assassination attempt by shooting at Vincent, grazing his face; he then flees with Annie to the Metrorail station under the building. A brief exchange of gunfire ensues on the train, in which Vincent is fatally wounded. Max and Annie get off the train at the next station while the train continues toward Long Beach with dawn breaking, and with a now dead Vincent sitting slumped in his seat.
Production
Michael Mann chose to use the Viper FilmStream High-Definition Camera to film many of the scenes of Collateral, the first such use in a major motion picture. There are many scenes in the movie where the use of a digital camera is evident, in particular, scenes where the Los Angeles skyline or landscape is visible in the background. One event of note was the filming of the coyote running across the road; the low-light capability allowed Mann to spontaneously film the animal that just happened to pass, without having to set up lighting for the shot. Mann would later employ the same camera for the filming of Miami Vice.[2]
The sequence in the Korean nightclub was shot in 35mm.
Themes
In the film's DVD commentary, Michael Mann said that the general theme of Collateral is the clashing of ideals behind the two main characters. Vincent lives his life by improvisation and living in the moment. He often mentions his reverence for constant change and making things up as he goes along. In contrast, Max has been driving cabs for twelve years because he believes that everything he does must be meticulously planned, especially the "Island Limos" company he wishes to set up.
Reception
The film received positive reviews. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 213 reviews.[3] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 71 out of 100, based on 41 reviews.[4]
The film opened August 6, 2004 in 3,188 theaters in the United States and Canada and grossed $24.7 million its opening weekend, ranking number 1 at the box office.[5] It remained in theaters for 14 weeks and eventually grossed $101,005,703 in the United States and Canada. In other countries it grossed a total of $116,758,588 million, for a total worldwide gross of $217,764,291 million.[1]
Richard Roeper placed Collateral as his 10th favorite movie of 2004. The film was voted as the 9th best film set in Los Angeles in the last 25 years by a group of Los Angeles Times writers and editors with two criteria: "The movie had to communicate some inherent truth about the L.A. experience, and only one film per director was allowed on the list".[6]
Awards and nominations
2005 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards
2005 Academy Awards (Oscars)
2005 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films (Saturn Awards)
2005 American Society of Cinematographers
- Nominated - Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases — Dion Beebe, Paul Cameron
2005 Art Directors Guild
- Nominated - Feature Film - Contemporary Film — David Wasco, Daniel T. Dorrance, Aran Mann, Gerald Sullivan, Christopher Tandon
2005 BAFTA Film Awards
- Won - Best Cinematography — Dion Beebe, Paul Cameron
- Nominated - Best Actor in a Supporting Role — Jamie Foxx
- Nominated - David Lean Award for Direction — Michael Mann
- Nominated - Best Editing — Jim Miller, Paul Rubell
- Nominated - Best Screenplay (Original) — Stuart Beattie
- Nominated - Best Sound — Elliott Koretz, Lee Orloff, Michael Minkler, Myron Nettinga
2005 Black Reel Awards
- Won - Best Supporting Actor — Jamie Foxx
- Nominated - Best Supporting Actress — Jada Pinkett Smith
2005 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
2005 Golden Globe Awards
- Nominated - Best Supporting Actor - Jamie Foxx
2005 MTV Movie Award
- Nominated - Best Villain - Tom Cruise
Soundtrack
The Collateral soundtrack was released on August 3, 2004 by Hip-O Records.
References
External links
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