Collateral

Within an actor’s career there is generally one film, sometimes more, that is viewed as a defining moment for that actor. The point at which no matter what is going on in the person’s public life, according to the media, or however many successful movies or flops they’ve had throughout their career, a moviegoer sees this defining moment and says “This person is actually a really solid actor, and completely sold me on their character, to the point I actually forgot who the actor was I was watching.” Or at least say or think something to that effect after watching the defining movie. Anyways, it doesn’t really matter how long a person’s career is, this moment can happen early or late in a career, it’s all a matter of the right material at the right time. For Tom Cruise, his defining moment, actually moments in his case, would be “The Last Samurai” and “Collateral”; the latter is the one I believe was his biggest moment. Both movies came later in his career, long after he had become a household name.

“Collateral” takes place in Los Angeles over the course of one long night for a cab driver named Max (Jamie Foxx), whose newest fare, an outgoing man named Vincent (Tom Cruise), is about to turn his life upside down. Unbeknownst to Max when he took this newest fare, Vincent is a contract killer who is in town to make five stops, which amounts to five kills, and then leaves L.A. as if he was never there. Now, Max must struggle with the fact that he is essentially becoming an accomplice to the murder of 5 people, while at the same time he is trying to find a way to not only survive the night, but also save a few of the people’s lives in the process.

For me, “Collateral” is the biggest defining moment in Tom Cruise’s career, I know I said he’s had two moments, but this movie is much more significant than “The Last Samurai”, in terms of how convincing his performance truly was. In this movie Tom Cruise still plays a likeable character, to an extent, but one with a much darker side than most of his characters, and over the course of the movie Vincent loses all of his charm, becoming even colder, to the point that there is no possible redemption for him in the audiences eyes. To my knowledge, this is the first time that Cruise has ever played an all-out villain, sure he’s played a few characters with questionable morals and what-not, but never one that is purely cold, calculating and in the end, evil. Another surprise for me, was the fact that Tom Cruise actually allowed his hair to be dyed gray, further evidence that he really wanted to sell this character to the audience and make them forget who it was they were watching, and know only the character on the screen. Everything about Cruise’s performance was brilliant, from his charm that masked his underlying evil, to his extreme intensity and sharp focus, he never once missed a beat, and that is what allowed “Collateral” to become such a defining moment in his long career.

The supporting cast, primarily Jamie Foxx, was very solid, engaging and thoroughly believable. Jamie Foxx delivered an excellent performance as a cabbie who is deluding himself and those around him into believing that he will one day own a limo service for the rich and powerful. The change Max endures over the course of this one difficult night with Vincent is so deep that you see everything about him change before your eyes. From his attention to detail and cleanliness to his delusions of grandeur, nothing about Max would ever be the same after this night was over, and Jamie Foxx handled the evolution of his character with such ease and believability, that it’s easy to see why he’s become such a big star in Hollywood.

Directed by acclaimed director Michael Mann (“Heat”), whose great attention to detail and character development is appropriately suited to just this type of material, the fate of “Collateral” could not have been in any better hands. Mann has managed to direct such big name stars as Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, and Colin Farrell throughout his career, and he’s become so powerful within the Hollywood system, that he actually had the clout to be able to reject Tom Cruise, at first, in regards to the role of Vincent. It wasn’t until Tom participated in a test, where he acted as if he was a deliveryman, a test that Mann used as a gauge for whether or not Tom Cruise could be believable in the role, that he won the role and the opportunity to prove just how talented he really was.

“Collateral” is the kind of movie that demands your attention from start to finish, as it continuously builds up an intriguing story and increases the tension as the minutes tick by, leaving audiences on the edge of their seats until the credits roll.

“Collateral” is rated R for violence and language.