October 14, 2004

Collateral

collateral.jpg


I never thought I would ever write these words, but: I liked Tom Cruise in a movie! Miracles CAN happen!

We dollared Collateral on Friday night and the theatre was surprisingly quiet. Jamie Fox and Tom Cruise starred in this Mann-directed film, about a hitman who takes over a cab driver's night while on one of his killing sprees.

This movie surprised me in that it was much better than I expected, both in style, story, and acting. With the exception of too much hand-held camera use, the direction was great. The mood of the film was easily established by a great choice in soundtrack and several cold shots of Los Angeles along the 110 freeway. The story could have been a lot simpler and the audience would still have been interested. But instead, as an audience, we learned about the background behind the hits, and the background of the cab driver.. even the background of the hitman. Jamie Foxx was perfect as a reserved man who is dealing with an insane situation. He was full of surprise, fear, anger, and I think even excitement as the story progressed. Tom Cruise's arrogant portrayal of a killer suited him unexpectedly well.

I was very shocked to walk out realizing that I had enjoyed the movie (which I thought looked stupid from the previews) AND that Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruised had really played their parts well. If you get a chance to dollar or rent it, do. I won't buy the DVD because it's not a story I'd watch a million times in a row, but I'm glad I saw it, and thought it was great.

Posted by wendytime at October 14, 2004 01:37 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Glad you liked it! I did too. And after the Bourne Supremacy this movie felt like a steadycam.

Posted by: Jonathan on October 14, 2004 02:42 PM

I know it isn't as bad as Bourne Supremacy (a.k.a. what the hell is going on??!), but sometimes I wonder why it's used. It just felt a bit unnecessary.

Posted by: jeri on October 14, 2004 03:24 PM
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