39th Favorite Movie - Collateral

Make sure you have read the first post in this series ("My 50 Favorite Movies") before you read on...

In that most of my creative energy is going in to making the films and skits for our upcoming Winter Retreat with the high school group, this will be a short review.

I think what I liked most about this movie is feeling like I had no idea what was going to happen next. The setup is Tom Cruise is a hit-man who waves down Jamie Foxx's cab one night and forces him to drive him around from one "job" to another. I am a sucker for movies and TV shows that take place in just one night, or one day, or a couple hours - real time, they call that. Apparently millions of "24" fans feel the same way. I also thought the scene where Jamie Foxx had to bluff the guy in the club was fantastic. I felt so nervous for him and so bad for him to be in that whole situation. I loved it when he finally takes control of his cab and stops giving in to Cruise's demands.

The film was directed by Michael Mann, who is never short on style points. He also made The Jericho Mile (a cool little 70's movie about a man in prison for life who becomes an Olympic-caliber runner), Manhunter (which tells the same story of Hannibal Lecter as Red Dragon, only better), The Insider (which everyone loves and I can see why) and Heat (which everyone loves and I can't see why). But Collateral is my favorite of his movies. Like Quentin Tarantino, Michael Mann has a knack for making even the most simple shots "cool".