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Collateral (2004)
Starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Mark Ruffalo. Cinematography by Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron. Edited by Jim Miller. Produced by Michael Mann and Julie Richardson. Written by Stuart Beattie. Directed by Michael Mann.
Max has been a cab driver for the past twelve years. He goes to work one night expecting the same mundane passengers he gets every day. Somewhere along the way he picks up Vincent who represents himself as a real estate investor in need of transportation to the five clients he needs to visit that evening. Max is waiting in the cab at the fist stop when a body lands on the top of the car. The corpse is the work of Vincent who is actually a hit man hired by a drug trafficking cartel to kill five key witnesses in a case filed against them. Max is now a witness himself and is forced to transport Vincent to the next four stops while he finishes up his night’s work.
Over the course of his career Michael Mann has been able to shoot Los Angeles like few other filmmakers have been able to. He gives the sprawling city an energy; almost personifying it. Collateral is no exception, though the film presented him with a unique challenge as it takes place over the course of one evening from six in the afternoon to four in the morning.
Actually, one of the selling points for his taking the project was the fact that everything occurs over the course of such a short amount of time. Feeling that traditional 35mm film would not present an accurate depth of field for his nighttime shots, Mann chose to shoot the large majority of the picture in high definition digital video, making him one of the first few directors to choose this increasingly popular format for a major feature film. He shot in Collateral in a variety of L.A. locations ranging from upper-class office buildings to ghetto back alleys and effectively captures the atmosphere and emotion of each setting.
Another strong point of Collateral is the strength of its characters; a rarity for a genre picture. Mann and his actors spent weeks in pre-production developing back stories for each participant. The events leading up to that night may not be directly presented via dialog, but actions speak louder than words. Character backgrounds seem familiar though none of them are discussed in depth. Also adding to the believability of each character was the fact that the actors were given training in each of their represented fields.
Each actor spent time with an expert in their respective fields: Tom Cruise with a martial arts and weapons master, Jamie Foxx with a race car driver, Jada Pinkett Smith with a successful female lawyer, and Mark Ruffalo with an undercover narcotics agent. The added comfort in their environment lent the film an amazing degree of authenticity. So if you haven’t picked this up from the barrage of praise, Collateral is a great movie.
Budget: $60,000,000
Total US Gross: $100,170,152
Genre: Thriller
Runtime: 120 Minutes
US Release Date: 8/6/04
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Awards: Academy Awards: Nominated for best editing and best supporting actor. Golden Globes: Nominated for best supporting actor.
Tagline: It Started Like Any Other Night.
Quote: “Ok, look, here’s the deal. You were going to drive me around tonight and never be the wiser but El Gordo got in front of a window, did his high dive… we’re going to plan B. You still breathing?”
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