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Collateral was a beautifully filmed movie, which is saying something considering so much of it was filmed in a taxicab.  Michael Mann sets the stage for the movie in the first 15 minutes:  Max is a simple cab driver who takes a great deal of pride in his work but dreams of starting his own limo company.  He frequently glances at a postcard of a tropical island, which allows him to forget the real world for a few seconds.  After driving an arguing couple, Max's day lifts up when Annie gets into the car.  They start arguing about which route will be the quickest to get to where she needs to go. This leads to a conversation and he finds out that she is a prosecutor with a big drug case coming up the next day and she has to go to the office to prepare.  They even talk about his desire to start up a limo company.  After she gets out of the cab, she comes back to give him her card with her number.  This whole scene has a feel to it that could be described as light and free, which contrasts with the dark intensity of the rest of the movie
 
Enter Vincent (played by Tom Cruise).  Vincent walks up to Max's cab, but Max is daydreaming of the tropical island so he does not notice him.  Vincent starts to walk to the next cab, when Max snaps out of his daydream and calls out for Vincent to come back.  Vincent tells Max where he wants to go and Max, always the experienced cabbie, tells him exactly how long it will take to get there.  When they get to his destination, Vincent tells Max that he is working on a real estate deal, has 5 stops to make that evening, and will pay Max $600 to drive him to all of his stops.  After much prodding and cajoling, Max reluctantly agrees.  Vincent goes into the building and Max is horrified when a body lands on top of his cab.  It is at this point that Vincent tells Max the truth. He is not in real estate but a hired killer and has five people to kill that evening. The stage is set for everything that follows.
 
Going into a movie like this there are bound to be many questions.  How in the world is there a movie where most of it takes place in a taxi cab?  How is Tom Cruise in his first role as a villain?  How is Jamie Foxx in one of his rare dramatic roles (the only other major one was in Ali)? While a lot of the movie does take place in a cab, not all of it does but surprisingly, the scenes in the cab are some of the best. That is where the chemistry between Vincent and Max is on display and the growth that in the character of Max occurs.  Tom Cruise does a good job as a villain. He is not over the top, but cool and calculating, which makes him seem even more sinister.  Jamie Foxx may be known for his comedic television roles, but he still does quite well in a dramatic role, especially within the close confines of front seat of his cab.
 
One of the most memorable things in the entire movie is the growth that Max undergoes.  He starts off the evening as a shy man who has been driving a cab for over twelve years.  Him becomes more outgoing, even telling off his boss (with some help from Vincent), and a drug boss.
 
Despite the character development, this is not a movie for families. This movie was deservedly rated R. Over the course of the movie, three people are shot at close range, there is a violent and bloody scene in a packed club and a trip to the morgue where several people are shown up close with fresh bullet wounds.  The language of this movie is also something that will have many parents squirming as there are more than 30 different curse words used. The only explicit sexual element, however, comes in that same club scene where people are shown in tight outfits, dancing suggestively.
 
Families would have plenty to discuss afterwards. One interesting topic would be how Vincent explains away his killing as "survival of the fittest". He also says that with the billions of people on the planet, which is one out of millions in the vastness that is space, no one will be too upset over the death of just one person. Families will want to discuss the contrast between Vincent's worldview of randomness and chance and the Biblical worldview.
 
The movie is good, but nothing amazing.  Families will want to think twice before seeing this movie due to the violence and language.

Burton Wray August 22, 2004