Collateral (2004)

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Jamie Foxx plays Max, a cab driver in Los Angeles working nights who's offered $600 by Vincent (Tom Cruise), who's just arrived in the city. Vincent has a few errands to run and will then be leaving town.

Vincent asks Max to park in an alleyway by an apartment block while he goes inside. When the dead body hits Max's cab, he realises what Vincent's errands are - he's a contract killer in town to make five hits and Max is trapped as his driver. But as the body count rises, the authorities begin to take notice...

Released in 2004, in a lesser director's hands, this would have been an all-action shoot-em-up. But Michael Mann, the director responsible for classics such as Heat, Ali and Manhunter, knows that pacing, considered dialogue and character development offers the discerning viewer considerably more.

This is especially so in the scene where Vincent tells Max to take him to the hospital where Max's mother is a patient. It offers an invaluable insight into the two men. And as the night progresses, the pair start to reveal more about each other, we learn about Vincent's past and Max's hopes for the future.

Strongly recommended.

Collateral is a Film programme that first aired in 2004 and has been rated 15.

Collateral is a 4 star programme.

Next Show Times

• United Kingdom
• United States

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