Collateral
Michael Mann
Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mak Ruffalo
18.
Cruise is making some extremely interesting, and high-quality, films these days and there is already talk of an Oscar for his role in this superior thriller... which does thrill.
The equally excellent Foxx plays a Los Angeles cabbie who one evening picks up a strange, grey-haired passenger who pays to be taken around for the following hours... a well-paid job to be sure, but when the cabbie figures he has a hired hit-man as a fare he is faced with the problem of saving the potential victims and himself.
It's a brilliantly-made film because Mann keeps his assured hands on a well-constructed screenplay and guides everyone along a dark and deadly path.
Cruise, playing against type as a villain, turns in a compelling performance and underlines his growing ability to come up with quirky characters.
And the winner is...
4/5