Collateral is a quintessential Michael Mann thriller with a game of cat and mouse between two people from opposite worlds that has the philosophical debates to make the down time equally thrilling. It's equal parts relentless and ruthless as people are dispatched with no fanfare and like all good neo-noirs, it turns the setting into a character in itself.
Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are perfectly cast with an unusual relationship considering Cruise is holding Foxx hostage but still finds time to offer life advice. Jamie Foxx is really good at portraying his character's growing stress, naturally escalating the stakes. Tom Cruise takes a big swing as a ruthless hitman by going against his usual roles and making good use of that usually out of place natural intensity.
Michael Mann is at the top of his game with his direction here, containing all his best preoccupations on the page and screen with cinematography by Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron that's stylish, intense and unafraid to embrace the grain of the image. The soundtrack adds so much style and the score by James Newton Howard & António Pinto can match it until the third act where it pivots into ratcheting up the tension for a terrific final chase.
Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are perfectly cast with an unusual relationship considering Cruise is holding Foxx hostage but still finds time to offer life advice. Jamie Foxx is really good at portraying his character's growing stress, naturally escalating the stakes. Tom Cruise takes a big swing as a ruthless hitman by going against his usual roles and making good use of that usually out of place natural intensity.
Michael Mann is at the top of his game with his direction here, containing all his best preoccupations on the page and screen with cinematography by Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron that's stylish, intense and unafraid to embrace the grain of the image. The soundtrack adds so much style and the score by James Newton Howard & António Pinto can match it until the third act where it pivots into ratcheting up the tension for a terrific final chase.