Collateral (film)
| Collateral | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Michael Mann |
| Written by | Stuart Beattie |
| Produced by | Michael Mann Julie Richardson |
| Starring | Tom Cruise Jamie Foxx Jada Pinkett Smith Mark Ruffalo |
| Distributed by | Dreamworks SKG/Paramount Pictures |
Running time | 119 min. |
| Budget | $65,000,000 |
Collateral is a 2004 Dreamworks SKG/Paramount Pictures American drama/thriller film/crime film directed by Michael Mann and written by Stuart Beattie.
It had moderate financial success, and was pretty well liked amongst critics. Both followers of Michael Mann and Tom Cruise are mostly calling it a very good film, though there has been substantial critical praise for the performance of Jamie Foxx, including a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination. The movie takes place in Los Angeles though the original screenplay set the story in New York. It is also the first major motion picture to be shot with the Viper FilmStream Camera.
Plot Summary
A nihilistic, erudite hitman, Vincent (Tom Cruise) uses a cab to make his rounds one night in Los Angeles. After Max (Jamie Foxx) knows the truth about the man he's been driving when the first mark falls onto his cab roof from window after it's been shot by Vincent, he tries to get out of Vincent's way offering him his cab, but Vincent forces Max to drive him all night.
Eventually Max realizes that the marks are key witnesses for the prosecution in a court case against an organized crime boss. Max must find a way to save himself and the one last victim.
Main cast
- Tom Cruise — Vincent
- Jamie Foxx — Max Durocher
- Jada Pinkett Smith — Annie Farrell
- Mark Ruffalo — Det. Ray Fanning
- Javier Bardem — Felix Reyes-Torrena
Synopsis (long)
Max is a cabbie in LA; he strives to be the best. He has had the job for twelve years. Dreams of starting a limo company dance in his head, but they’re just dreams, never to be realized. One day he picks up a prosecuting attorney Annie Farrell, they talk, and in the end when she leaves the cab, she gives him her card. As Max is staring at the card in amazement, a man, Vincent, gets in. They have a little chat, and Vincent tells Max that it's not his first time in L.A., and that everytime he's here he can't wait to leave. He tells him about something he read once before; "I read about this guy who gets on the MTA here, dies. Six hours he's riding the subway before anybody notices his corpse doing laps around L.A., people on and off sitting next to him. Nobody notices.". Max gets him to where he wanted in time. Vincent shows admiration to his precision and offers him to be his driver for a night, dropping him at four more stops and then to the LAX. Max shows hesitation at first saying that it's against the regulations, but then Vincent offers him $600 and that's almost twice as much as Max makes in one shift, so he agrees. Max waits for him in an alley behind the building.
A body smashes on the roof of the cab. Max is stunned. He looks up at where the body came from, Vincent is standing there. Max asks, “You killed him?”, Vincent responded, “No, I shot him. Bullets and the fall killed him.” Vincent takes Max hostage and makes him drive around. Vincent takes out a lawyer turned criminal and a jazzman.
At this time, a call over the radio informs Max and Vincent that Max's mom has been trying to get in contact; Max religiously visits his ailing mom. Max tries to blow the meeting off, but Vincent insists that they make the rendezvous, to lessen the chance that Max's situation is discovered, and, to have more leverage against him (Vincent later threatens to off Max's mother before leaving town.) They make the visit - and even share the elevator with the LAPD officer investigating the Vincent's murders who is visiting the coroner. At this time, Vincent discovers that Max has been lying to his mother, who believes that her son owns a limo service and that Vincent is one of Max's clients.
While Vincent amiably chats with Max's mother, Max steals his bag of files and makes a run for it. He makes it to an interstate overpass and flings the case onto the road. Vincent then forces Max to meet with Felix, the man who has hired the assassin, to get the files (Vincent didn't want his identity to be revealed.) Felix is at a cowboy club for the evening and, unbeknowingst to him and Vincent, is under surveillance by the FBI. The LAPD agent notices Max's wrecked cab on one of the surveillance cameras, and this is the first time the law enforcement officials know who their hitman is and what his motives are.
We learn that Vincent is a hitman hired by Felix to take out witnesses in a trial against him. Felix is in the “exotic substances” business. Vincent has two more hits left. Vincent and Max go to club Fever, but FBI and LAPD are on their trail. In the ensuing mess, Vincent gets his target and manages to save Max’s life. One hit left. Then Max rebels, he hits a construction barrier and they go flying. Vincent runs away from the wreckage when he hears a police siren coming his way. Max is just about to give himself up to a cop who is at the crash site when he sees that the last target on Vincent’s list is the prosecution lawyer he met in the beginning. Max quickly takes out the cop and takes the gun that Vincent left behind under the wreckage. Max starts running to save her. He steals a cell phone from a man on the street aiming Vincent's gun at him. He tries to call her, Vincent is in the building, Max is outside looking in.
When he sees Vincent is in the building, Max run inside the building. Just as Vincent is about to shoot Annie, Max shoots Vincent in the ear. Annie and Max run away onto the MTA (subway). Vincent follows. And in the ultimate climax, Max is on one side of the skytrain doors and Vincent is on the other. They both shoot multiple rounds. They both run out of bullets. Vincent starts to re-load but his clip hits the floor. He is bleeding from the chest and abdomen. He sits down. “Guy gets on the MTA and dies. Think anybody'll notice? ”
Theme
Template:Spoiler Michael Mann himself has stated that the general idea behind Collateral is the clashing of ideals behind the two main characters. Vincent is obsessed with improvisation, often mentioning his reverance for constant change and making things up as he goes along almost as an art form, and definitely as a way of life, whereas 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. In the end, Max and Vincent find themselves in a shoot out, in which Max closes his eyes and throws chance to the wind. If he had carefully aimed, going with his philosophy, he would have been shot, but in letting loose, he shoots Vincent and evades being shot himself. This marks Vincent's impact on Max, and stresses that the two extremes are wrong, and that a balance is actually the best way to live life.
This, of course, is merely one interpretation, but being the one of the director, it is most likely the one that was intended.
Interestingly, Mann's other major crime-drama movie, Heat begins with Robert DeNiro's character at an MTA station very similar to the one that Collateral ends in.
Another connection with Heat, and other movies of his involving criminals is the focus on the dichotomy of personalities. Heat actually has the reverse, with Al Pacino's character, the detective (also named Vincent, coincidence?) being the one that seems to be focused on adaptation and impulse, whereas DeNiro's criminal character is obsessively methodical with his giving into impulse leading to his downfall.
Cameos
In the beginning of the film, upon leaving the airport, Vincent (Tom Cruise) receives his briefcase from who some believe to be Frank Martin (Jason Statham), or to others as the lead character from The Transporter and The Transporter 2. Although it may not be true, Jason Statham's character looks like Frank Martin and has the British accent.