Taken at face value, Michael Mann’s Collateral isn’t really an action-packed, high-octane thriller at all. It’s a brilliantly delivered battle of worldviews.
Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx) has driven a cab in Los Angeles for 12 years. You might think he has no ambition, but he does. Early in the film, we notice the pride Max takes in keeping his cab not just clean, but spotless. You see, Max has a master plan - to own a limo service that’s second to none. When the limo stops at your destination, says Max, the experience is so wonderful, you’re not going to want to get out of the limo.
But all that is in the future. In the present is Vincent (Tom Cruise), a prematurely gray man in a gray suit who’s Max’s next customer. Only Vincent plans to be a long-term customer, hiring Max to drive and frequently look the other way for the rest of the night.
After a very close encounter with a dead body, Max quickly realizes that Vincent is a hit man and isn’t going to let Max go until everyone on Vincent’s list is eliminated. Max is still in shock when we get this exchange:
Max: I think he’s dead.
Vincent: Good guess.
Max: You killed him?
Vincent: No, I shot him. Bullets and the fall killed him.
It soon becomes obvious that Vincent rejects any moral standard, having no regard for anyone’s life (except, of course, his own). After the first hit, Max can’t get over the fact that Vincent has actually ended someone’s life. Vincent argues, “Get with it. Millions of galaxies of hundreds of millions of stars, in a speck on one in a blink. That’s us, lost in space. The cop, you, me... Who notices?”
If we are just impersonal specks in a random universe that doesn’t care, if there is no system or standard in place to judge us, what’s the big deal over killing a few people? Max can’t really explain why Vincent’s worldview is wrong; Max is caught in an argument that Vincent turns around on him, reminding Max that, although he’s got bigger plans, he’s been driving a cab for 12 years, after all:
Max: Someday? Someday my dream will come? One night you will wake up and discover it never happened. It's all turned around on you. It never will. Suddenly you are old. Didn't happen, and it never will, because you were never going to do it anyway.
Vincent has power over Max because Vincent has no regard for life and Max does. It’s ironic that, when visiting Max’s mother in the hospital, it’s Vincent who shows thoughtfulness and compassion. He knows how to work it.
But Max knows a few things too. Maybe he hasn’t thought out his worldview as well as Vincent, but he makes some important discoveries on the L.A. streets as he carries out Vincent’s itinerary.
Collateral provides a wealth of worldview discussions that could run long into the night for those who have the desire and curiosity to do so. Besides that, it’s an excellent film, one that has received far too little attention in the nine years since its release. Despite the fact that Foxx was nominated for an Oscar for Collateral, fans rarely mention this role when speaking of Foxx’s best performances. Tom Cruise fans apparently didn’t like the graying action hero playing a villain, either. As its 10-year anniversary approaches, Collateral is a film that should be revisited for many reasons: superb direction from Mann, excellent performances, great use of location, tight action, unbearable suspense, and, possibly most importantly, for its examination of worldview.
5/5
No comments:
Post a Comment