the fresh films reviews

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Collateral (2004)

Director:
Michael Mann
COUNTRY
USA
GENRE
Drama/Action
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Collateral
RUNNING TIME
118 minutes
Producer:
Michael Mann
Julie Richardson
Screenwriter:
Stuart Beattie


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Vincent Tom Cruise
Max Jamie Foxx ½
Annie Jada Pinkett Smith ½
Fanning Mark Ruffalo
Richard Weidner Peter Berg
Felix Javier Bardem

 

Review

Michael Mann directs this thriller with a fairly effective, brooding stylization. Unfortunately, the story, characters and dialogue is painfully run of the mill. Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are both cast against type, which is a potentially fresh approach, but Cruise's role and performance are both way too shallow to keep the level of interest high. Jamie Foxx is emphatic in the lead, but his character's motivation won't do well with too much analysis. Sure, the film has its fair share of suspense, but it raids the vault of clichés on its way there. And when it tries to get under the skin of its characters, there just isn't much there. Too bad, because the Cruise/Foxx-relation has a lot of potential. Mann tries to make it a cat and mouse game (the scene in the nightclub is the only really effective in that matter), but can't elevate the effort to come off like anything else than an average TV-series. Luckily, his next film will be a remake of Miami Vice.

Copyright © 5.2.2005 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang [HAVE YOUR SAY]