A Better Thriller than Most
Added 2/8/2010
What separates Michael Mann's "Collateral" from most other crime thrillers is that you actually have characters that you enjoy and, more importantly, understand. To see Tom Cruise as an ice-in-his-blood hitman, which is way more than casting against type, is something to behold. And Jamie Foxx as an unwilling accomplice is superb. And Los Angeles, as an unwilling third character, is hypnotic. (The scene where three coyotes cross a main L.A. drag is almost artsy, but extremely effective, as it conveys some deep meaning to the distinction [or lack thereof] between civilization and wilderness.)
I agree with most reviewers that some of coincidences are farfetched, and that the ending is a little too much like other thrillers, especially "Speed". Still, the movie held my attention thanks to the peppery dialogue between Cruise and Foxx. What disappointed me, besides the logistical leaps in the plot, were the "gimmes". Michael Mann's commentary was surprisingly unintersting and the "special" features weren't so special. However, this is movie is a high-water mark in thrillers and an exceptional character study worth owning.
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Collateral.
Added 2/2/2010
Surprisingly Good Movie,Tom Cruise is impeccable in the movie, Jamie Foxx even better. it's a good high paced thriller movie. the circumstances of the two characters and how everything intertwines is good.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Sorry - disappointing
Added 1/21/2010
Found myself wanting to turn it off before the ending. And saying to myself, boring. If a movie is based in reality,
I find it very hard to concentrate on the movie when presented with a string of non-sensical events. Basically, it
had it's moments, but mostly felt like a waste of my time. Just watched it for the first time last night.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Collateral
Added 1/2/2010
This movie is an expertly-made thriller. Max has lived a mundane life as a cab driver for twelve years. The faces have come and gone from his rear-view mirror: people and places he's long since forgotten--until tonight. Vincent is a contract killer. When an off-shore narco-trafficking cartel learns that they're about to be indicted by a federal grand jury, they mount an operation to identify and kill the key witnesses, and the last stage is tonight. It is on this very night that Vincent has arrived--and five bodies are supposed to fall. Circumstances cause Vincent to hijack Max' taxicab, and Max becomes collateral--an expendable person who's in the wrong place at the wrong time. It's a perfect hit.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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A Class Act
Added 12/16/2009
This movie has real class, the photography, shot with the viper hi-def camera, is amazing and adds a depth of escapism that I have only found elsewhere in Michael Mann's Miami Vice, shot with the same camera. The colours and the vibrancy of the Los Angeles dusk just made me feel "there" in a way I can't put my finger on, and combined with the score to create a world I enjoyed losing myself in.
Tom Cruise is looking sharp in an all grey suit, tie and hair combo and brings an air of intensity and offbeat Tyler Durden style to his role, espousing the same "live life in the moment and destroy all those pedestrian parts of yourself that hold you back" philosophies in between murdering his targets in emphatic fashion. The guy looks good, and carries the main drive of the movie, along with the photography and the music.
Jamie Foxx does a great job of the supporting actor role, and the storyline is a tightly scripted realisation of a good concept: a foreign assassin turns up in LA to carry out five hits between sun-down and sun-up before leaving again never to be seen or heard from, strong-arming a hapless cab driver into being his personal chauffeur for the duration of the operation, or so the plan goes.
Watch out for the completely unscripted and impromptu appearance of a wild dog strolling out in front of the car at a light (the camera just happened to be rolling), it's a special movie moment, and really captures the essence of "being there", witnessing life as it unfolds, and all that jazz.
Brilliant film. Delivers on all the levels it attempts to, and possibly more.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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A Better Thriller than Most
Added 2/8/2010
What separates Michael Mann's "Collateral" from most other crime thrillers is that you actually have characters that you enjoy and, more importantly, understand. To see Tom Cruise as an ice-in-his-blood hitman, which is way more than casting against type, is something to behold. And Jamie Foxx as an unwilling accomplice is superb. And Los Angeles, as an unwilling third character, is hypnotic. (The scene where three coyotes cross a main L.A. drag is almost artsy, but extremely effective, as it conveys some deep meaning to the distinction [or lack thereof] between civilization and wilderness.)
I agree with most reviewers that some of coincidences are farfetched, and that the ending is a little too much like other thrillers, especially "Speed". Still, the movie held my attention thanks to the peppery dialogue between Cruise and Foxx. What disappointed me, besides the logistical leaps in the plot, were the "gimmes". Michael Mann's commentary was surprisingly unintersting and the "special" features weren't so special. However, this is movie is a high-water mark in thrillers and an exceptional character study worth owning.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Collateral.
Added 2/2/2010
Surprisingly Good Movie,Tom Cruise is impeccable in the movie, Jamie Foxx even better. it's a good high paced thriller movie. the circumstances of the two characters and how everything intertwines is good.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Sorry - disappointing
Added 1/21/2010
Found myself wanting to turn it off before the ending. And saying to myself, boring. If a movie is based in reality,
I find it very hard to concentrate on the movie when presented with a string of non-sensical events. Basically, it
had it's moments, but mostly felt like a waste of my time. Just watched it for the first time last night.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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