Welcome to
the Jungle
by Mark SellsWelcome to the jungle, an urban playground where jazz meets rock n' roll, simplicity collides with sophistication, and routine is far from boring. This is the dark and mysterious side of Los Angeles , a city that becomes an integral character in Michael Mann's new crime thriller Collateral . The story takes place in one fateful night, with two characters from different backgrounds making a series of visits across town. One is a taxi driver and the other is his fare, a hit man out to eliminate five witnesses. Edgy and suspenseful, Collateral 's ingenious dialogue, gritty performances, and groundbreaking cinematography set it apart.
Max (Jamie Foxx) has been in Los Angeles for nine years struggling to make it as a writer. Working as a taxi driver to pay the bills, he aspires to own his own limousine service in a tropical locale. One day, on a routine stop, Max picks up Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith), a beautiful and down-to-earth attorney who confides in Max after a friendly bet. But rather than ask for her number, Max allows the opportunity to pass him by. Or so he thinks. Shortly after exiting the cab, Annie returns and hands him a business card with her number on it. His luck seems
to be changing. And just when things couldn't get any better, a well dressed man named Vincent (Tom Cruise) enters Max's cab, offering to pay him $600 if he will take him to five different stops during the night. Although this is not standard practice, it's an offer Max simply can't refuse.
On the first stop, Vincent tells Max to wait for him in a nearby alley. But before Max can get a bite of his sandwich, a man crashes down on the top of his cab. Within seconds, Vincent appears. And it is here that Max realizes Vincent's occupation has little to do with real estate or visiting friends. With a gun to his head, Max is unable to escape, forced to finish the rounds. But maybe he can hinder Vincent's plans? As the two make stops from luxury apartments to jazz clubs to dance halls, they are pursued by two hip LA police officers (Mark Ruffalo and Peter Berg) who stumble upon each crime scene.
Collateral is a character study of two men with different values, attitudes, and goals, who are brought together by coincidence and transformed. When Vincent first steps into the cab, Max is attracted and overly curious. Here's an affluent man exuding confidence and intellect, something that Max aspires to. And Vincent, in turn, respects Max as a blue-collar worker chasing his dreams. But once Vincent's true colors emerge, their relationship and characteristics change like the taxi's overall appearance. “What? I should only kill people after I get to know
them?” Vincent reacts after Max questions his relationship with the victim. Over the course of the evening, Max becomes more confident and assertive. In turn, Vincent becomes vulnerable and even a little sentimental.
The smart dialogue (Stuart Beattie) works to perfection. In a long running conversation between contract killer and cabbie, we learn about Max and Vincent in ways that don't require action. And we learn about them indirectly, without the need for long, elaborate details. Once Vincent appears, we comprehend the emptiness of his childhood, and identify with a lonely man in an unforgiving city. We also understand Max, who knows his way around LA with ease, but is frustrated with his failed career attempts and inability to go after what he wants in life. Such emotion is transparent because of carefully chosen words like “adapt,” “temporary,” and “cool.” In one of the film's best moments, we experience the regret and disappointment of a jazz musician (Barry Shabaka Henley) after a chance encounter with the cool Miles Davis.
Much of the film is wickedly funny, as Tom Cruise's pretty boy image is replaced with that of a sadistic killer. Cruise's intensity is
so shocking that we laugh in self-defense. He's an exceptional villain, steely gray hair and all. Equally compelling is Foxx, who completely breaks out of his comedic image here. Max is nervous and scared, he's embarrassed around his mother, and he's fallible. And we smile and laugh at his discomfort, and sympathize with him every step of the way.
Michael Mann has created an atmospheric world of stark light and shadow. Contrasting the hustle and bustle of the daytime with the isolation and solitude of the darkness, Mann makes Los Angeles look beautiful and haunting at the same time. Taking place between the hours of 6 p.m. and 4 a.m., the film occurs almost entirely at nighttime. Thus, to pick up the vibrant patterns of light and dark hidden to the naked eye, Mann chose to shoot nearly 90% of the film on high definition video. The cinematographers (Paul Cameron and Dion Beebe) makes the city come alive, turning L.A. into a sexy, scary, and shadowy place, where anything can happen, even a strange encounter with a pack of coyotes.
The film's only misstep is that it turns to formula when it should be exploding with abrupt dramatics and wordplay. The film's last quarter seems clichéd and conventional compared to the careful build-up we've been treated to before, but the picture still finds a way to come full circle with Cruise's character in a satisfactory manner. Collateral maintains a rough and frenetic pace. Even though its ending may adhere to form, the film as a whole feels very different. Plus, you get to see Tom Cruise play a very bad guy. And you have to admit, it's pretty cool.
©2004 Mark Sells
CineScene
