COLLATERAL

With Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx
Directed by Michael Mann

Michael Mann has given us a range of flicks from thrillers like the Red Dragon adaptation Manhunter, horrors like The Keep, historic period action romance like Last Of The Mohicans, crime thrillers like Heat and sports biopics like Ali. Not to forget his creation of Miami Vice. This tense thriller focuses the action on two characters in the confined space of a taxi, occasionally venturing out. A taxi driver aspiring to start his own limo service takes pride in his job and vehicle. His night shift becomes a nightmare when an assassin makes him complicit in his list of hits by forcing him to drive from one location to the next. A very well paced, exciting and tense drama with action elements, both leads delivering good performances as we wait for the outcome of this fateful night. I sometimes wonder exactly how they decide who is the lead in a situation like this. Reason being Foxx got Oscar® nominated as best supporting actor (simultaneously with best lead for Ray, which he got of course) - but with pretty much the same screen time as Cruise (and no less inferior performance), does Tom get lead status because he's been doing it longer, gets paid more, is whiter? Hey, I don't know, but it would've been cool had Foxx grabbed both lead and supporting Oscars®, don't you think?

5 / C
- PB

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