Collateral (2004)

The film is a strong character study built around a long conversation between a contract killer and his cab driver hostage, deepened by specific details and convincing supporting scenes at each stop. Performances, especially Jamie Foxx's dramatic lead turn, elevate it beyond standard thriller conventions.

The film is a taut, tight, bluesy urban noir with crafted dialogue, excellent acting, and an existential riff on Mann's themes of professionalism and responsibility. It is as intelligent, engrossing and exciting as expected from the maker of Thief and Heat.

Collateral is the best of the summer's big thrillers, beautifully made with the largest human significance among them and clockwork precision that still breathes. Mann excels at intricate character moments amid the violence, particularly in the bond between the killer and the taxi driver.

The film peers deeply into the physical and moral darkness of Los Angeles at night through the story of a cab driver held by a hit man. Mann's direction and the lead performances create a sharp, exciting thriller that examines driven outsiders swallowed by their professions.

Cruise is well cast against type and surprisingly effective as the killer, but it is Mann's astonishing style that really marks the film out, with night-time LA looking moody, surreal and dangerous.

Mann uses the thriller genre as a way into meaning, turning the story of a hit man and cab driver into a road movie and valentine to nighttime Los Angeles rather than a standard Hollywood blowout. The film hinges on the intersection of fate and choice between two radically different souls.

An intriguing noir thriller with an arresting digital video look that returns Mann to the crime genre; it never achieves the intensity of Heat and turns too generic in its action-oriented final act, but stands out as one of the summer's tastier Hollywood offerings.

The film works best as a low-key, self-contained thriller focused on two men in one cab over a single night in Los Angeles, with strong performances from Foxx and Cruise. It falters with a hacky twist and subplot at the end but remains atmospheric and engaging overall.

The critic hails Collateral as Mann's movie through and through, with strong against-type turns from Cruise and Foxx and innovative digital-video night photography that creates a new kind of noir. It notes some conventional plotting in the final act but calls the cab-bound sections masterful.

The review finds Collateral visually striking thanks to its digital night photography of Los Angeles but faults the premise and Cruise's performance for lacking sufficient malevolence. It notes the film's reliance on cars, chords and coincidences.

The film is a constricted chamber piece that fails to deliver the expected epic or psychological heft from a Mann-Cruise pairing. It offers some tense encounters and strong visuals but ultimately feels like routine business that runs too long.

The critic calls Collateral as good a thriller as we're likely to see this year, praising its inventive, well-paced narration and neo-noir qualities in the league of classics like Heat and Le Samouraï. He singles out the expert handling of the tense night-time LA setting and the strong central performances.

The critic calls the film terrific and an effective return to Mann's familiar LA milieu after Ali. The standout element is the cinematography, which renders night-time Los Angeles with architectural precision and noirish menace.

The critic finds Collateral enjoyable for its cinematic verve and strong performances, particularly Cruise as a convincing sociopath and Foxx as the cabbie, but notes that the plot goes from generic to plain weak in the end.

The review describes the film as streamlined and potentially superficial on the surface but praises Mann for executing it flawlessly and elevating it beyond a standard Hollywood thriller through atmosphere, performances and set-pieces.

The critic finds the film gripping and thrilling, crediting Michael Mann's masterful direction and visual style for elevating a familiar premise. Cruise and Foxx deliver standout performances that anchor the tense, character-driven action.