This Thriller Starring Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise Will Keep You on Edge

Though director Michael Mann’s most recent movies, like Blackhat and Ferrari, have garnered more divisive responses from critics and the general public alike, his filmography is still brimming with classics. This director and his proclivity for bold visual flourishes have produced countless acclaimed gems like Heat, Manhunter, Thief, and The Insider. Even 2006’s initially dismissed Miami Vice has endured as a subversive cult classic. Many of those creative highlights in Mann’s career occurred during the ’80s and ’90s, but that doesn’t mean the 21st century has seen the director completely on autopilot.

On the contrary, Mann delivered one of his greatest works in 2004: Collateral. With this feature, which united the auteur with Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise, Mann exemplified his gift for making sleek thrillers that don’t sacrifice craftsmanship for hollow thrills. It’s possible to have your cake and eat it too when it comes to the director’s propulsive crime thrillers. Collateral is a perfect example of this enthralling phenomenon.

What is Collateral?

Like many great crime thrillers, Collateral sees a normal human being suddenly plunged into a world of debauchery he could never have imagined. Here, that ordinary soul is Max (Foxx), a man struggling to realize his grandest ambitions while stuck at his job as a Los Angeles cab driver. You never know who will hop into your backseat next. This includes Vincent (Cruise), a man offering Max hundreds of dollars to drop him off at five different spots across one night. The cash-strapped Max agrees to the proposition, but the moment a corpse falls on his cab, he quickly realizes Vincent isn’t to be trusted.

If you’re going to make a movie where long stretches of screen time consist of just a two-hander in a taxi cab, your dialogue better be crackling like there’s no tomorrow. Luckily, screenwriter Stuart Beattie hands Mann, Cruise, and Foxx lots of enrapturing verbiage to handle throughout Collateral. Rather than inspiring tedium, the film’s intimate scope, like other classic movies such as Rope, just heightens the tension and makes absorbing characters further captivating. The inspired screenwriting also lets viewers truly appreciate what magnificent work Collateral’s two leading men are delivering.

Jamie Foxx, for his part, is a terrific down-to-earth anchor to center the movie around. Just this actor’s aura is enough to garner audience sympathy as he navigates a criminal underworld beyond his comprehension. The fact that this actor effortlessly elicits chuckles and empathy depicting Max’s reactions to Vincent’s gnarliest bursts of outlaw behavior is truly a feat to behold. Plus, whenever Max begins to muster up more courage to fight back against Vincent, Foxx makes that evolution totally believable. It’s a turn that immediately ensures that he joins Russell Crowe, Al Pacino, and William Petersen in the pantheon of all-time great lead performances in Michael Mann movies.

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Collateral’s Subversive Cruise Performance and Visuals

Playing opposite Foxx is Cruise as evildoer Vincent. Given how often he plays heroes determined to save the entire human race in modern movies, the idea of Cruise as a baddie is a tantalizing prospect. The man’s innately intense aura proves a perfect fit for Vincent, especially in how it contrasts so sharply with the naturalistic warm presence exuded by Foxx. Cruise is transfixing in Collateral, especially in his lively chemistry with his co-star. Just watching these two actors bounce off one another is enough to ensure that Collateral is a must-watch.

More than two decades after its release, it’s also intriguing to see how Mann and cinematographer Dion Beebe captured significant chunks of Collateral in digital cameras. A rarity at the time of this film’s release, the use of early 2000s HD cameras lends Collateral an incredibly distinctive look compared to other big-budget crime thrillers of the era. There are many idiosyncratic qualities of Collateral you won’t find anywhere else. The very singular visual aesthetic (echoing how Max is experiencing a night like no other) exemplifies this.

Beyond the rich performances and historically significant cinematography, Collateral also simply excels where crime thrillers must: keeping your eyes locked to the screen in suspense. There’s no shortage of mesmerizing nail-biting scenes here that keep you guessing what could possibly happen next. The biggest crowd-pleaser moments will leave you on your feet, while its most intense moments will have you wanting to cover your eyes in terror. All the while, Mann lends an assured confidence to the proceedings that few other filmmakers could provide. Want two hours of 21st-century proof that Michael Mann is one of the best to ever make crime thrillers? Collateral is just the ride you’ve been looking for.

Collateral is now streaming on Paramount+.