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When Michael Mann's on form he can create gritty, old-school crime thrillers better than most. He understands the value of good characters and likes to keep the camera close to them so that we are able to study, avidly, their interactions with one another (check the restaurant scene in Heat). He is also a very patient filmmaker -- despite having a career spanning thirty years, he's only made sixteen films, which is considerably lower than the average filmmaker. He takes his time developing his stories, with a great eye for detail, in a bid to develop tension and then enforce a sense of urgency as things come together towards the finale.

In Collateral, Mann is able to keep us gripped for the duration of a two-hour long story thanks to his incredible sense of pacing. There are many things to enjoy here, including his stylistic digital cinematography, the seemingly-authentic action scenes that surprise and excite, Jamie Foxx's solid performance as an everyman-turned-hero cab driver, and even Tom Cruise's unthinkable performance as a cold-blooded killer.

The premise is a simple one: Cab driver Max (Foxx) is on the hunt for fares one night and unknowingly picks up a hitman (Cruise). Vincent, as he's called, offers to give Max $600 if he is willing to chauffeur him to various locations around L.A. so that he can meet a number of business clients. As we and Max soon find out, however, these "clients" are actually targets that Vincent has been contracted to kill by his superiors.

Conventionality is Mann's strong point. Forget cheap CGI explosions and gunfights that defy logic; the man behind the camera prefers to depict crime from the levels of realism and draw us into the frightening, yet intriguing, world that the main characters take stage upon. Through the use of digital video, Mann exposes the darkness and isolation of certain areas of the city, which feature apartments, hotels, nightclubs, offices and public transport facilities. There is a moody feel to everything, which reflects the frustrations belonging to cab driver Max after he is forced to drive Vincent around the city against his will.

The way the director shoots the characters is no less impressive. When Vincent takes down his targets we really feel the force that he pulls the trigger and the impact that the bullets have upon the flesh. The camera remains up close and personal with the characters throughout, detailing their facial expressions, making them feel very alive (or dead, coincidently). Particularly with Vincent, Mann wants us to get inside his mind so that we can begin to see what makes the soulless assassin tick.

On a related note, there is also a particularly memorable moment involving a coyote running across the road as the two leads are waiting at the traffic lights in the cab; with the technology being able to shoot in low-light, Mann was able to spontaneously capture the animal as it just happened to be passing by. We are also given the opportunity to study the faces of Vincent and Max in this scene as they look on to nature themselves. This is simply fascinating viewing.

Acting wise, it would seem that Mann definitely knows how to get the best out of his actors from the evidence here. Cruise gives easily one of the most memorable performances of his career as the killer: Dressed in a suit and with stubble and grey hair, he appears suave, though has a certain menace that we anticipate exploding into action at any moment (this is the one and only time thus far that I can say I respect Tom Cruise for his acting talents in a movie). Foxx, proving that his last outing (Ali) wasn't a one-off, gives an inspirational performance as the film's straight man fighting back against the manipulative hitman. Stuart Beattie’s script must also be commended for creating such interesting characters for the lead actors to make the most of; it's so dramatic and so convincing to watch as Vincent and Max banter back and forth with one another as they venture to various spots in L.A.

The only thing slightly disappointing about Collateral is the inevitable showdown between Vincent and Max. The initial chase in the subway is intense, but as the characters eventually square off, face to face, with their guns pointing at one another, the whole thing feels rather tame and short lived in the end, and fails to do justice to the excellent build-up.

That said, Collateral is still an incredibly engaging movie that is right up there with the director's best work. Whether it be for the beautiful cinematography, the relentless action scenes, the excellent performances by Cruise and Foxx, or even the unexpected cameo/bit-part appearances of well-known actors/actresses such as Jason Statham, Barry "Shabaka" Henley, Mark Ruffalo and Jada Pinkett-Smith, Mann has made sure that there's always something interesting for us to look at here.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2010.