Collateral Review

4 out of 5

Crime, Thriller

The Verdict

Thumbs Up: Highly Recommended

Crime-thriller fans who love a tense, character-driven night in the city. It’s rated R for violence and language.

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Synopsis

Max (Jamie Foxx) is just your average cab driver, taking fares from one destination to the next. One night, a fare named Vincent (Tom Cruise) comes into Max’s cab and offers to pay a large sum of cash to drive him around for the night. Max soon finds out Vincent’s profession and ends up in a compromising situation.

Spoiler Warning!!! Full Review Below

Full Review (Spoilers)

Producers: Michael Mann

The Good

Tom Cruise’s performance in this movie was top-notch. Vincent

challenged the mindset of Max with each passing minute. Cruise rarely

plays a bad guy in movies and you can actually count each role on one

hand.

Jamie Foxx played an amazing supporting

character. Max transformed into a different person after spending a

night with Vincent. He began the movie as a timid cab driver and ended the

film with enough confidence to take on Vincent.

The plot for the film was interesting. It puts an ordinary

man in a difficult position. Instead of giving to viewing public the

ending they think would happen they switched it to where the good guy

wins. You would never think Max had it in him to take charge and go against

Vincent with a victory ending.

The action sequences played out well. Vincent took on an

overwhelming number of people and decimated them.

The Bad

The death of Vincent

just seemed to follow a little foreshadowing. It was a weak end of a strong

character. Vincent spent all night getting out of many situations just to have

it end with one lucky bullet seemed disappointing. He died in the same fashion

as the man in a story he heard that happened on the train and being unnoticed

for six hours.

Originally published on the Bring On The Reviews Blogspot blog on April 20, 2014.

Collateral (2004) Cast and Details

Collateral (2004) is directed by Michael Mann and stars Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith and Mark Ruffalo. It runs 120 minutes and is rated R. You can look up the full cast and crew on IMDb. You might also like my Heaven Is for Real review.

DC's Hypothetical Corner

Let’s say I change one thing. Maybe that one thing will make this movie better or more watchable.

Just imagine if the producers of this film when with their original choices for this film, Russell Crowe as Vincent and Adam Sandler as Max. It would make for a different film. Adam Sandler is capable of playing a serious role but he could take away from the film in the end. Russell Crowe would have been very interesting to see in the role of Vincent.

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