Collateral

Any work by Michael Mann is better than most things, and “Collateral” is no exception. The movie is really a two-person character study dressed up as a thriller. Tom Cruise is Vincent, a hit man who coerces cabdriver Max (Jamie Foxx) into driving him around as he takes care of business. Cruise, cast against type as a bad guy, is very good, and Foxx is even better. For the most part, Mann exhibits his usual perfect control of the film's pacing and look (a few distracting uses of shaky hand-held camera notwithstanding). What keeps this from being among Mann's best work is the script. We do get to know Max to some degree, but Vincent remains a blank. More important, the basic premise of the picture, as well as some of the more implausible plot turns, keep it from being completely believable. “Collateral” is entertaining and suspenseful enough, but it should have been even better.