Collateral (2004)
Country: US
Technical: Technicolor/2.35:1 120m
Director: Michael Mann
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo
Synopsis:
A scrupulous LA cab driver gives a ride to a professional hit man and finds himself driving him from one address to another while he eliminates witnesses in the trial about to commence of a major drug baron.
Review:
Tightly shot on digital stock with the Viper Filmstream camera and shallow depth of field, this measured thriller offers a familiar adversarial situation of bad guy forcing good guy to do things he doesn't want to do, freshened up with sardonic dialogue and philosophical exchanges between hunter and unwilling accomplice, all within the intimate confessional space of a taxi cab. It builds to some tense moments, has stunning nighttime shots over and in L.A., and features one chaotic shootout in the director's best style which must have taken weeks to choreograph and film. Cruise is magnificent in a rare heavy role, portraying one of Mann's typical professional men of action; constantly one finds oneself forgetting what he is engaged in, upbraiding the cabbie for his churlishness and sitting back in admiration at how well he does it (no doubt one of the reasons for the identity of the film's fifth victim)! There is a sadness at the heart of the film which the deaths of both cop and villain serve to underline.
Country: US
Technical: Technicolor/2.35:1 120m
Director: Michael Mann
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo
Synopsis:
A scrupulous LA cab driver gives a ride to a professional hit man and finds himself driving him from one address to another while he eliminates witnesses in the trial about to commence of a major drug baron.
Review:
Tightly shot on digital stock with the Viper Filmstream camera and shallow depth of field, this measured thriller offers a familiar adversarial situation of bad guy forcing good guy to do things he doesn't want to do, freshened up with sardonic dialogue and philosophical exchanges between hunter and unwilling accomplice, all within the intimate confessional space of a taxi cab. It builds to some tense moments, has stunning nighttime shots over and in L.A., and features one chaotic shootout in the director's best style which must have taken weeks to choreograph and film. Cruise is magnificent in a rare heavy role, portraying one of Mann's typical professional men of action; constantly one finds oneself forgetting what he is engaged in, upbraiding the cabbie for his churlishness and sitting back in admiration at how well he does it (no doubt one of the reasons for the identity of the film's fifth victim)! There is a sadness at the heart of the film which the deaths of both cop and villain serve to underline.
Country: US
Technical: Technicolor/2.35:1 120m
Director: Michael Mann
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo
Synopsis:
A scrupulous LA cab driver gives a ride to a professional hit man and finds himself driving him from one address to another while he eliminates witnesses in the trial about to commence of a major drug baron.
Review:
Tightly shot on digital stock with the Viper Filmstream camera and shallow depth of field, this measured thriller offers a familiar adversarial situation of bad guy forcing good guy to do things he doesn't want to do, freshened up with sardonic dialogue and philosophical exchanges between hunter and unwilling accomplice, all within the intimate confessional space of a taxi cab. It builds to some tense moments, has stunning nighttime shots over and in L.A., and features one chaotic shootout in the director's best style which must have taken weeks to choreograph and film. Cruise is magnificent in a rare heavy role, portraying one of Mann's typical professional men of action; constantly one finds oneself forgetting what he is engaged in, upbraiding the cabbie for his churlishness and sitting back in admiration at how well he does it (no doubt one of the reasons for the identity of the film's fifth victim)! There is a sadness at the heart of the film which the deaths of both cop and villain serve to underline.