COLLATERAL - DVD review

The big-budget action movie is a formula that has been tried and tested so much so that it has become its own cliché. So recognizable are these themes that they became their own movie, sans story, in the lampooning film "Team America: World Police." Many people, myself included, have grown tired of the big-bang, special-effects laden Summer action movie. While "Collateral" strives to be more, and succeeds through the majority of its run-time, it falls into many of the same clichés that strike its contemporaries.

"Collateral" is the story of two men who are drawn together by chance and luck who become more inseparable as the film rolls on. Vincent (Tom Cruise) is in L.A. on a mission. He's a professional hitman who is an expert at his craft and runs with a very distinct method of operation that generally absolves him of blame and conscience. He hooks up with Max (Jamie Foxx) as his driver for the night to move him expediently though the city and ultimately will have him take the blame.

The first half-to-two-thirds of the movie takes a chance to sit back and focus on an extremely (cinematically speaking) short timeframe to understand the machinations and motivations of those involved. Character, like most Mann movies, is what drives the story here, and we're fortunate to find two extremely complex men with multiple layers waiting to be unfurled. Vincent lives in a world of justified killing, at least in his own mind. Trained in the special forces and coming from an abusive home, he finds ways to rationalize his actions, looking at himself as the hero. His dialogue isn't clear because he is deluding himself as well as trying to justify his actions to others.

Max, meanwhile, is taken along for Vincent's ride, unaware that he will ultimately serve as the patsy for Vincent's crimes. Like Vincent, Max has deluded himself to believe that he's more than simply a cab driver. He has dreams of running how own limo company but in the 17 years he's been driving cabs has been unable to marshal the funds due to poor investments and gambling losses. That hasn't stopped him from lying to his mother about his already-successful business and letting his dreams take over his reality. Max and Vincent bring a level of complexity to the screen that's rarely seen because, until the middle of the second act, we really don't know if Vincent is on the level. The philosophical exchanges the two have while riding between locations are extremely revealing, if you're able to distill the discourse to its actual meaning. It is these moments, the chance to peer into the minds of our principals, sets "Collateral" apart from other movies of its ilk.

Mann's cinematography is well-done, possessing a surreal and gritty quality that places the audience into a mindset that is very reflective of Max's journey through the film. It is familiar and recognizable but through a fog. Though Vincent speaks out on how he despises Los Angeles, Mann treats it with love and respect. In the commentary he'll point out landmarks he made it a point to include because of the tone it sets in the film. I've never been to L.A. but can feel Mann's, a Chicago native, love and admiration for the City of Angels. His locations are excellent and the sets capture the diversity of the city along with its expansive nature.

As I said earlier, the movie succeeds through the majority of its running. The acting is excellent, the story superb and original, and the movie really had me believing in its world. Unfortunately the film falls, in the final quarter, into a clichéd territory. Rather than have the film go in an unforeseen direction, it pulls back in a throwaway moment from earlier in the film that defined Max's character and begins a chase and shootout that has been done many times before. It's still excellently performed and presented, but for a film that had been, to that point, interesting and different, I was disappointed to be able to predict the final act of the film. It's got some wonderful ironic moments that play back to brief statements in the first portions of the movie, but still had me rolling my eyes and shaking my head as Max becomes an out-of-character action hero. I could follow the train of thoughts through most of the movie but the ending seemed too scripted to me. For a movie that strove for realism in look and tone, this radical departure seemed like a cop-out.

On the whole, I can easily recommend "Collateral" on the strengths of the performances. Although there were some logical leaps on the parts of the police early in the film, I can say that the majority of the movie is original, smart, and clever. Mann's movie brings out some great characters that create a good movie out of a decent story. Stylish and beautiful, "Collateral" is a nice change of pace.

Video:
Shot in high definition, "Collateral" looks magnificent. A lot of natural lighting is used and there is a large amount of grain that's distracting in well-lit and daylight scenes, however it was all present in the theatrical presentation of the movie. "Collateral" isn't going to look as great as most movies released this year because it's not meant to look like a Hollywood movie, it is meant to look real. The image has tremendous depth but everything looks a little muted, fuzzy, and washed out. While these might be perceived as flaws, it's all part of the stylish picture Mann has created. The transfer suffers from no film artifacts and looks great.

Audio:
There are two flavors for the audio on "Collateral" and both sound magnificent. Unsurprisingly I'm going to give the edge to the dts soundtrack because it sounds a smidge crisper and contains a great clarity especially evident during the gunplay scene in the nightclub and during the airplane arrival in the beginning of the film. The rears are used sparingly but when they are activated they are used to set a mood and cause immersion in the movie, to great effect. The dialogue, essential in this movie, is clear and crisp and the music has a great range.

Extras:
Being a two-disc set, you would expect to be deluged with information on the making of this film and you would be right. The first, and most notable extra, is the solo commentary by filmmaker Michael Mann. He spends a lot of the time early describing the action-on-screen and making comments on the motivations of the actors that are fairly routine, but later on starts to delve into the making of the feature, some of the backstory they created for Vincent, and the ways he used HD cameras and natural lighting for effect. Overall it's a worthy listen, if you do slap your head because Mann says something obvious.

The second disc contains the bulk of the extra materials. "City of Night: The Making of Collateral" is exactly what it sounds like, a feature-length documentary that explores how Michael Mann and company were drawn to the project and how they went about committing it to screen. The majority of the information is duplicated in the commentary but I prefer it here with some instant visual references and more principal commentators including designers and actors. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes material included here, including on-set footage and background weapons training. It's one thing to hear Mann talk about what Cruise went through, it's another to see him to build this character from the ground up. The same goes for the driving training Foxx received and the work put into his neurosis. Not only is this documentary everything that the commentary is, it's more succinct and I prefer it. An excellent addition.

"Special Deliver" is a one-minute scene of Tom Cruise learning to be unrecognizable by doing the job of a FedEx deliveryman.

There is only one deleted scene included in this set, the elimination of tails as Vincent gets set to go to Fever and nail his target. It's a good scene that makes Vincent seem more professional and gives the police more time to find their target. It does break up the flow of the story and it makes sense to have removed. It's presented with commentary by Mann.

One of the beautiful things about this movie is the way it was shot in natural light and this featurette details what it was like shooting in the darkened prosecutor's office. Another instance of information being duplicated from the commentary and done better with behind-the-scenes information.

"Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx Reherse" is pretty self-explanatory. Presented splitscreen, it shows the dichotomy of the early rehearsals and shows what goes into creating the final motion picture. It starts with the lines, moves on to the emotions behind them along with the actions, and finishes with the movie on screen. It's a neat look at the early stages of the movie. I love table-reads and seeing where the movie came from.

There are few overt visual effects in this movie, and those that are included are integrated so well that you would never know. The final scene on the MTA is shot green-screen and Michael Mann goes through and explains why he would do that and the process of creating the illusion.

Additionally there are some trailers for unrelated Dreamworks movies including "The Bourne Supremacy," "Anchorman," and the soundtrack for "Collateral." None are presented in anamorphic widescreen. Furthermore there are some text-based cast and crew notes about the principals in the movie and some fluffy production notes. If you watched the documentary and listened to the commentary you'll have heard all this before. No insert is included in the DVD box and there is no trailer for "Collateral" included on this set.

Film Value:
Original and intellectual, "Collateral" is definitely worth your time. The DVD's audio and video is superb and the extras, though often redundant, are and excellent companion to the film.

Thoughts according to Tim David Raynor
I don't think I could express enough how I feel "Collateral" is one of the best films of 2004. If I ever got around to creating a top-ten list, I would certainly place "Collateral" in my top five. The year yielded several big-budget films, but many of them were mediocre to say the least, whereas "Collateral" succeeds in many places those epic-size films failed. Not that any of those meant-to-be-blockbusters failed with the general audience; it's just that Michael Mann's "Collateral" runs circles around most of them.

The one key element that drew me into Mann's film is the way he was able to deliver the overall atmosphere and tone, and he delivered this in the most relentless fashion possible by never letting go of it. The man certainly has a talent for making the camera take us on a journey through the dark, gritty, and even subtle beauty of Los Angeles. I felt he was also very successful in doing this in his film "Heat," but I felt he did a far better job capturing the mood and tone in "Collateral." I also enjoyed how he managed to show the audience things obscure and strange that may seem completely out of the ordinary, such as the scene where a coyote crosses a street in search of his prey. I found the scene a complete surprise that added nothing to the plot yet managed to add to the mood of the film, making it a powerful clip, even though it is only for a brief moment.

For what may be considered an action-suspense film by others, I would categorize "Collateral" as an intense drama with some action and suspense. And it is the drama and character development that worked so well for me. Foxx does a great job as a taxi driver in pursuit of bigger dreams and a better life. He is a prime example of the man in most of us who is not the most motivated individual but is neither lazy nor a complete failure. He is just like many of us who are hardworking yet have dreams that are unattainable no matter how hard we try to capture them. Even so, he is a character with his own complications and a big enough heart to become the hero we expect to see in all of us.

On the other end of the character perspective, Tom Cruise delivers a stunning performance as the film's villain, Vincent. Well, villain may be too obvious a word, and after all, it is Tom Cruise, so I couldn't help but view him as the antihero. As far as I know, this is the first time I've seen Cruise play a bad guy, and I felt he gave it as much conviction as De Niro, Pesci, or even Walken would deliver. His performance worked for me and was easily captivating and believable. Of course, Cruise manages to get the best dialogue in the film, but he does not go too far out of his way to upstage Foxx's performance. Cruise is definitely the more aggressive and keen of the two characters, and even though he is supposed to be the shylock, you can't help but feel a connection with his character. Then again, I've become so accustomed to Cruise playing the likeable hero that it seemed like an easy transition to fall into. After all, he is quite the good-looking guy, not that I'm gay or anything, but you have to admit Cruise does have a natural sex-appeal for the big-screen that is hard to deny.

For some people I have talked with, this film fell apart for them at the end. Many people felt bringing Jada Pinkett Smith's character back into the ending was too obvious and lacked any original thinking. Nevertheless, and to each his or her own, I really didn't have any issues with this. I thought the ending worked for me, and it closed an exhilarating, suspense drama where it best suited the story. Sure, it was obvious that the film was going to take us on a journey that would eventually emerge with a hero in the most likely predicament, but for some reason, this just did not sit well for some audience members. In my opinion, it is an element that seems to work fine in other films, so I guess "Collateral" gets to take the beating for delivering the common, most obvious ending for a film of its kind. Oh, well, it worked for me and that's about all I'm going to say about it.

Another scene that seems to bother certain audience members was the shoot-out in the night club. People I have spoken with felt you had to suspend too much reality to enjoy the scene. As for me, I felt it was the most intense scene in the film and was certainly a turning point to the film's story and pacing. Regardless of how I felt the scene worked, others felt it was simply unbelievable for a guy to walk into a night club and start shooting obvious targets. Well, I hate to tell you, folks, but recently in 2004 a young man walks into a night club and managed to shoot and kill a guitar player from the heavy-metal band "Pantera." He then managed to shoot and kill several audience members. Being of sound mind, I think you can see where my point is going, and, yes, it can happen. Not to mention, we're talking about L.A. here. The city itself is a jungle of gangs and obvious defective individuals, so to say that a night club shooting seems impossible would be ludicrous and ignorant. I know my own experiences in night clubs have yielded more than my share of close calls, fights, and, yes, even instances of guns. Therefore, I had no problem accepting Cruise going on a rampage. Fact is, I've witnessed a full-scale bar riot in my little home town of Vancouver that makes the night club scene in "Collateral" look like small potatoes. As I have said, it's L.A., so the scene works brilliantly for me.

"Collateral" is easily a film that has a lot more going for it than against it. And coming to the end of 2004, I have still not seen any film of its genre come close to comparing with it in overall quality. Mann does an outstanding job capturing a side of L.A. that can only be seen at night, and the actors do a fine job in drawing us into a story that is only possible through a certain degree of fate. As this is Justin's studio, he gets to give the film's entertainment rating, but if you were to ask me, I'd give it a 9/10.