Jamie Foxx plays Max, a Los Angeles cab driver who has a pretty wild night in this thriller from Michael Mann (HEAT, THE INSIDER). First, Max picks up, flirts with, and gets the number of Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith), an attractive District attorney. Next, Vincent (Tom Cruise) climbs into his cab. He is a professional hit man who reserves Max for the night with a whole shopping list of victims he needs to visit. As the night moves forward and the body count rises, Max must wrestle with the question of how to do the right thing while staying alive. Gradually the two men bond in unlikely ways, as each learns survival mechanisms from the other, and it all doubles as a metaphor for morality vs. capitalism. Mark Ruffalo and Peter Berg play cops who eventually get on Max and Vincent's trail, leading to a spectacular action set piece inside a night club. Irma P. Hall (2004's THE LADYKILLERS) gets laughs as Max's hospitalized "momma," and Javier Bardem (BEFORE NIGHT FALLS) is a sinister drug lord. With a capable director like Mann at the wheel, this remains a smooth, enjoyable ride while also being fast, bumpy, and full of twists and turns. The streets of urban, nighttime Los Angeles--captured via a specially modified digital camera--never looked so beautiful or desolate. As typical of the director, the film is both artistic and action-packed; operatically over-the-top while never skimping on the little details.
THEATRICAL RELEASE: AUGUST 6, 2004
DVD Features:
Region 1
Snap Case
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.39
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Dolby Digital 5.1 - French
DTS 5.1 - English
Additional Release Material:
Deleted Scenes With Commentary
Trailers: Theatrical Trailer
Featurette:
1. CITY OF NIGHT: THE MAKING OF COLLATERAL
2. VISUAL FX: MTA TRAIN
3. Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx Rehearse
4. Shooting On Location : Annie's Office
5. Special Delivery
Text/Photo Galleries:
Production Notes
Filmographies:
1. Cast
2. Filmmakers
Director of Photography
Dion Beebe: DOP
Executive Producer
Chuck Russell: Director/Screenwriter/Prod.
Executive Producer
Frank Darabont: Screenwriter/Director
Executive Producer
Peter Giuliano: Producer/Asst. Director
Executive Producer
Rob Fried: Executive Producer, COLLATERAL (2004)
Director of Photography
Paul Cameron: Director of Photography
Review 1:
"[An] elegantly crafted and genuinely thrilling thriller....The crackling-smart script was written by Stuart Beattie..."
Source: Wall Street Journal
04/24/2009
Review 2:
"[A] feast for the eyes....[Mann] really uses the electronic sheen that comes with the format."
Source: Premiere
p.23-4 07/01/2004
Review 3:
"[With] complex, intriguing characters..."
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
p.11 12/10/2004
Review 4:
"Mann's crisp, pulp thriller sees TC as a bad cat in after-hours LA..."
Source: Total Film
p.136 07/01/2006
Review 5:
"Mann hits a new peak, orchestrating action, atmosphere and bruising humor with a poet's eye for urban darkness."
Source: Rolling Stone
p.149 09/02/2004
Review 6:
"[T]he wrap-up is staged with craft and confidence..."
Source: USA Today
p.10E 09/03/2004
Review 7:
"COLLATERAL has the texture and gravity of an old-school classic."
Source: Uncut
p.148 10/01/2004
Review 8:
"[A] tensely funny and alive Los Angeles night-world thriller....Cruise and Foxx are so good together because they allow the two characters to get under each other's skin."
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.59-60 08/13/2004