More plot-holes than the back road to Kagman has potholes

If you’re on your way to see Collateral, don’t bother bringing your brain with you—it really won’t be necessary. In fact, it might even stop you from enjoying what is, at least, a decent action flick. The premise of Tom Cruise’s latest thriller is a novel idea, but the intricate details of the plot are barely even half-baked. If you’re able to look past the Swiss-cheese plot, though, Collateral can be a fun movie to watch.

Tom Cruise steps out of his box a little bit, to play the “bad guy,” Vince, a hitman visiting L.A., for a night, to do his dirty work. Jamie Foxx, like we’ve never seen him before, plays Max, a cab driver fed up with his job, who nevertheless takes pride in doing it well. Impressed by Max’s skills, Vince hires him for the night. Accidentally, during Vince’s first of five kills, Max realizes he hasn’t actually been hired to help a real estate agent meet his contacts.

Plot-wise, that’s about it. There’s really no way I could possibly ruin any surprises for you, because there aren’t any. Max drives Vince around for awhile; Vince does his thing; eventually Max saves the day. All of this was revealed in the previews, and the first fifteen minutes of the movie. Originality ruined by typical Hollywood formula. Predictability is not, by far, the only problem with the screenplay, though, written by rookie Stuart Beattie.

There are so many moments in Collateral that cross far beyond the borders of plausibility that I lost count. Actually, I don’t keep count, but if I did, I would’ve lost it. Usually, in an action movie, you have to suspend your disbelief when the hero of the story performs athletic feats of superhuman ability while putting the smack down on the bad guys. No such superhuman feats exist in Collateral; good. Instead, we’re asked to overlook a few MAJOR coincidences, and a whole lot of behaviors that no real person would ever think of performing.

Intermittently, the movie tries to be a “smart” crime-drama, letting us follow the investigation of the detective on the case. Yippee. Too bad all of the clues that we’re supposed to follow have already been revealed, because we’ve just seen what actually went down. Kinda kills the suspense.

The saving grace of Collateral is the fact that Michael Mann is one heck of a director (Ali, The Insider, Heat, Last of the Mohicans). From the beginning of the movie, it’s clear that Collateral isn’t going to be your average shoot-’em-up. And, while Beatty might’ve done a terrible job writing the story, as far as plotline is concerned, he deserves some accolades for the dialogue and character development.

Far from what you’d expect from an action movie, the driving force behind Collateral is the uneasy tension that exists between Max and Vince. Both characters are well developed and easy to empathize with (yeah, even the hitman). This is partly due to Beatty’s writing, but mostly to Mann’s direction. Bucking the trend that most of his contemporaries keep to, Mann wisely chooses to use a lot of close-ups, and particularly long shots that linger on after they’re already over (for a better example of how this technique is used effectively, watch Mann’s Heat).

One of the best is the opening scene, in which Max meets his obligatory love interest, played by Jada Pinkett Smith. There are many more good scenes, yet, between Cruise and Foxx, especially one in which Vince teaches Max to grab his sack when need be.

In a sense, this role is a bit of a departure for Cruise, because he’s the “bad guy.” In reality, it’s not much of a departure, at all, because he plays it the same way he’s played every other role he’s had over the last decade—which is actually pretty darn good. Foxx, on the other hand, will overwhelm you, especially if you used to watch him on In Living Color. Is it wrong that I kept waiting for him to say that he “likes breastissisis”? Look out for things to come from Foxx—he’s got a talent, and appears to be breaking through the glass ceiling.

Don’t let the first half of this review convince you to stay away from Collateral. It’s got high-quality acting, brilliant direction, and a couple of decent action sequences. Do you really need more than that for your seven bucks? As long as you can turn a blind eye to the numerous problems with the plot, you should get some fun out of it.

Collateral is currently being shown at the Hollywood Theatres in San Jose, Saipan. Rated R. (Joe Weindl)

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