Collateral (2004)

Director: Michael Mann

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Mark Ruffalo, Jada Pinkett Smith, Javier Bardem

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 116 minutes

Even though Michael Mann has directed dramas, horror, and historical epics, the Mann (see what I did there) is most well known for his crime dramas. Films like Thief, Manhunter, Heat, Collateral, Miami Vice, Public Enemies, and Blackhat define Mann, flaws and all. Mann is a filmmaker who humanizes cops and criminals and gets at what makes them do the things that they do. He is one of the few filmmakers who makes criminals redeemable despite their heinous crimes. 

While some may say that Thief, Manhunter, and Heat are Mann's best films, I believe that Collateral is Mann's best feature film to date because it has a perfect balance of immersive character work, bad ass action, and thrilling storytelling. Everything comes together to create one of the best neo-noir action pictures of the last decade. It's unfortunate that Mann's career post-Collateral has somewhat tanked. Bland contemporary Mann films like Miami Vice and Blackhat pale in comparison to Mann's early work.

The Transporter meets The Assassin.

Collateral was a very important film for Mann's career. It was the first film that Mann shot extensive amounts of high definition footage. Mann's post-Collateral films are defined by their high definition photography. Therefore, Collateral was where Mann's high definition obsession began. Collateral was and still is Mann's biggest financial success to date, grossing an impressive $217 million off of a $64 million budget for an R-Rated film. The film also marks the jumping off point for Mann's longest streak of crime pictures to date, a whopping four in a row over the course of 11 years. At this point, Mann should just stick to crime dramas, as that is what he typically does best. However, I hope that Mann can remember what made Collateral so great and apply that to his contemporary works.

Collateral opens at an airport as a nameless man (Jason Statham in an odd cameo) passes off a briefcase to Vincent (Tom Cruise), an assassin in town for some work. We than meet Max (Jamie Fox in an Academy Award nominated role), our reluctant hero and cab driver from Los Angeles. After Max drops off a passenger named Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith), Vincent gets into Max's cab and asks him to drive to a guy's apartment. After Vincent gets out of the cab, he asks Max to wait outside for him. However, things turn sour as a dead body lands on top of Max's cab and freaks him out. It is here where Max realizes that Vincent killed the man. When Max tries to run, Vincent pulls a gun and makes Max get back into the taxi. Max now has to drive Vincent to his next four targets for the night or be killed himself. You can bet that there is some "collateral" damage throughout the night.

Even though I am not a fan of plot driven films, Collateral has an absolutely awesome one. One can't help but place themselves in Max's shoes as they watch him court an assassin around town with no other option but death. Collateral's greatest success is that it is entirely character driven despite its simplistic and sleek plot. I would argue that Collateral has both the finest screenplay and characters of any Mann film to date.

Two different men bond over the craziest cab drive of all time.

The film's dual performances by Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are first rate. These are truly two of the best performances of each actor's careers. I would go so far as to say this is Jamie Foxx's best performance next to his starring turns in Ray and Django Unchained. Foxx is absolutely incredible as a quiet but hesitant cab driver who dreams of owning a limousine company one day. However, he never acts on anything in his life and learns to change when he meets Vincent, an assassin for hire who pesters Max about his reluctance and accidentally motivates Max to change. Max's gradual transformation from timid bystander to active hero is incredibly believable thanks to Foxx's Oscar nominated performance, Stuart Beattie's incredible screenplay, and Mann's pitch perfect direction. Even the little details, like how Max forgets to flip the safety off of a gun the first time he fires it hammer home Foxx's owernship of the character.

On the other side of the coin is Cruise's turn as Vincent, a cold and calculated assassin with a sense of honor, righteousness, and respect. Vincent is Tom Cruise at truly his most bad ass and villainous. He kicks ass, racks up an impressive body count, and shows off his redeemable side all in one film. What makes Vincent such a great character is how Mann balances him as both a murderous villain and a likable person. Much like the lead criminal characters in Mann joints like Thief and Heat, Vincent is redeemable to an extent despite the fact that he murders people for a living. Vincent is more like a twisted conscious who sits above Max's shoulder, taking advantage of him throughout the night but also lecturing him as they go. Even though Vincent forces Max to drive him around and help him kill people, he takes the time to defend Max from his rude taxi boss over an intercom and lectures him to buy his sick mother flowers because she carried him in her womb for nine months. Little characteristics like these make Vincent a complex and likable villain who doesn't turn pure evil until the end of the film when he becomes sort of an unstoppable slasher villain.

Supporting turns by Jada Pinkett Smith as a kind taxi customer and Mark Ruffalo as a hardboiled cop help add to the film's authentic Los Angeles vibe. Even though both Smith and Ruffalo have a handful of scenes to work with, their characters are essential in furthering Max's arc. I don't want to spoil their fates, but all I can say is that Mann and screenwriter Beattie use two supposed throwaway characters as essential audience attention grabbers towards the end of the film. As I stated before, there is an odd cameo by Jason Statham of all people as a bag man. Statham had already co-starred in both Snatch and The Italian Job and frontlined The Transporter by 2004, so his cameo is truly perplexing. The most truly perplexing cameo of the entire film is a one scene inclusion of the great Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Skyfall) as Felix, Max's mobster boss. Upon rewatching the film for my review, I was completely taken aback by Bardem's appearance, as I had not remembered him being in the film at all.

Trademark Michael Mann precision shooting.

Collateral is a nail biter of a neo-noir actioner with some incredibly bad ass action sequences and truly tense moments that will have you on the edge of your seat. The infamous "Yo homie, that my briefcase," scene in which Tom Cruise guns down two thugs in 1.39 seconds makes the entire film worth watching solely for its inclusion. Michael Mann films are notable for their precision shooting and incredibly realistic gun play. Mann is infamous for taking his actors to shooting ranges and having them rehearse their action scenes with live ammunition. That way, each actor knows the action sequence by heart and looks like they truly know what they are doing when they fire a gun. You can't get more realistic than that. 

The Club Fever sequence marks the action climax of the film in which every character converges on one location for an action packed shootout that showcases Tom Cruise at the top of his precision shooting game. Watching Cruise fall to the ground, roll, grab a gun, fire it while laying down, and than quickly make his way up from one knee, to both of his feet while still firing is breathtaking. For all of the Cruise haters out there, all I can say to them is that Cruise is one of the hardest working actors today because he immerses himself into his work simply for our entertainment. Collateral is a good action film to show to picky cinematic viewers who complain about the lack of realism in an action film whenever a character fires a gun 30 times before reloading or jumps through air and miraculously connects their bullets with a target. Collateral is about as realistic as an action film can get and that is all thanks to Mann's attention to detail and Cruise's devotion to the art of action.

Max Mann's up.

Collateral is a near perfect action thriller. The character work by Foxx and Cruise is unforgettable. By the time you reach the film's inevitable final confrontation between the two characters, you truly feel saddened at the outcome. Seeing Foxx and Cruise sit apart from each other, guns in hand, on a subway train makes for one of the best endings to any Michael Mann film to date (don't worry, I didn't spoil anything for you about the finale). Collateral is the Michael Mann film to beat. Heat may have the more epic storyline and better action, Thief may have the greater score, and Manhunter may be the most influential police procedural film to date, but Collateral trumps them all in my opinion. I'll take a tense and realistic trump through Los Angeles set over the course of one night in which Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise have deep conversations with one another any day over the likes of Heat or Manhunter. I highly recommend Collateral to all action fans and consider it to be a defining film of the digital generation of filmmaking. It defines the Los Angeles noir film for the modern age.

Rating: 9/10 - Superb action, stellar character work, and great L.A. photography make Collateral one of the best action films (and films in general) of the early 2000s.

Thief (1981) Review

Director: Michael Mann
Cast: James Caan, James Belushi, Tuesday Weld, Willie Nelson, etc.
Country: United States

Synthesized music, noir visuals, a protagonist who lives by his own code, and neon lights. Sounds a bit to me like Nicholas Winding Refn's Drive (2011). I know Drive was inspired by a lot of other films, but I feel that this was undoubtedly an influence on the film in someway. I just want to get that out of the way because I don't remember anyone listing this film in their Drive discussions before. Let it be known that Drive has Thief all over it! But in all seriousness, on to the review.

"My son is Buddy The Elf!"

Michael Mann is a director who likes to combine urban cities, criminals, and police officers in his narratives. The protagonists in his pictures vary from criminals, to cops, or even innocent bystanders dragged into the muck of things. Thief is one of his films where the protagonist happens to be the...well, thief. Not only that, but Thief is Mann's feature film, and a darn good one too. The elements that Mann would become known for are all introduced right here in this blisteringly bleak noir.

James Caan plays Frank, a car dealer by day and a jewel thief by night. He and his partner Barry (James Belushi of all people) are grade A professionals and are strictly self employed. One night, Frank is introduced to Leo (Robert Prosky), a man with serious connections, money, and opportunities. Leo wants to work with Frank because Frank is the best. Frank dislikes working for someone else though because it means he is pulling major exposure and is not completely in control of his work. As he ponders the offer, Frank meets and falls in love with Jessie (Tuesday Weld). Knowing that he'll need major money fast in order to support a life with her, Frank strikes a one time deal with Leo. However, Leo has plans to keep Frank on forever while Frank does not. Even though everyone is making money and dodging the cops along the way, an inevitable disagreement and showdown awaits these characters.

Great Leone-esque tension in scenes such as this.

It should be noted that Thief is not much of an action film. It has about as much violence and action that you would find in films like Drive, No Country for Old Men, and Unforgiven. However, Thief plays great to action fans because of its action-esque elements. It has a short but sweet kill count, suspenseful scenes straight out of a Leone western, lengthy jewel heists, epic explosions, a soundtrack that any 80's action flick would beg for, and competent protagonists and antagonists. The film is also directed by action maestro Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral, Public Enemies, etc.). Therefore, I think that the film lends itself to the action audience quite well.

Thief is a wonderfully photographed noir. The blues are especially noticeable in every scene. The night time scenes are gorgeous too. The film takes place in Chicago and it definitely shows. Director / Screenwriter Michael Mann grew up in Chicago. Therefore, the film has a very authentic look and feel to it. The tight and confining streets and visual imagery compliments the fact that this is a film noir. As most noirs go, everyone is trying to get out of a situation. And as usual, there is no way out. Kudos to the claustrophobic alleys and skyscrapers seen in the film. Chicago's beautiful and haunting night time sequences feel like a character all of their own.

7000 degrees of awesomeness.

The film also does a great job at immersing us into the lifestyle of the way of a thief. I can't quite remember the exact phrases, but during the first few scenes where Frank discusses getting paid for his heists, he uses phrases like "down" and a couple others a lot. It took me a minute to realize we were getting a film that wasn't going to give us atypical dialog. You feel like you are truly watching thieves go to work. Michael Mann has stated that even the tools and methods used in the heist sequences are 100% real. This realism definitely shows, especially during the heist when Frank must "burn" a vault open. Sparks fly everywhere - It is quite the visual showcase.

Thief has a soundtrack that might as well be its own character. It's one of the best film scores I have ever heard. Tangerine Dream composes some of the most awesome and affective synthesized beats I have ever heard in a film. The two main jewel heists are expertly photographed and edited. The film score ties it all together though in a nice little bow. The final scene is also complimented by a unique bad ass guitar riff. Whenever the film chooses to limit its dialog, the score takes over and sets the mood perfectly.

James Caan, the lady's man.

Mann's debut features some very first rate performances as well. James Caan gives my favorite performance of his as Frank. He is a complicated character with a code of his own. He only likes to make one time deals, provide for those he cares for, and does not want to be messed with. By being in prison from age 20 to age 31 as Frank recounts in a diner scene, he has missed a massive portion of growing up as an adult in the real world. Therefore, Frank operates a little differently and has philosophies of his own.

Tuesday Weld, Robert Prosky, and James Belushi are all fantastic in their supporting roles. Even though Prosky has a silly and kind looking face, he can be quite menacing and terrifying in some scenes. Willie Nelson has a small but memorable part as a man named Okla, the thief who taught Frank everything that he knows. I love good mentor/student stories in any film. Therefore, it was a nice surprise to get this as a subplot amidst everything else going on. The film does a fantastic job telling everyone's stories without any one character ever feeling useless.

Say hello to the 80's.

Rating: 9/10 - Michael Mann's slow burn debut is a truly dazzling neo-noir. It has great performances, a tense realism, and one of the best 80's soundtracks I have ever heard. Highly recommended to fans of dramatic action films and especially noir.

Best Kill / Beatdown: Aw man, it's too spoilery to reveal!
Best Performance: James Caan gives a superb performance as a character we don't see too often in our action films of today. He has a unique personal code, a bizarre way of dealing with the ladies, and a taste for leather jackets. Who doesn't love this character?
Best Action Scene: The final gunfight is just great. It's beautifully edited, scored, and shot. While very short, it is simply exquisite. It's like sipping a wine, tasting it, and than spitting it out. Short but sweet.