Summer Movie Mania: Week 6

Movie last week: Collateral starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, and Jada Pinkett-Smith.

First off, there must be an admission that my expectations were pretty low for what seems to be another Summer shoot-'em-up, but would you believe that this movie was surprisingly refreshing? Refreshing in the sense that the action was emphasized as brutal, efficient, and tense, unlike the overly-glossed type action scenes you will see nowadays. Refreshing in that the dialogue rang true for the characters and not laced with snarky platitudes of a smart-ass up-and-coming writer. Clearly, this movie had a different purpose beyond pure entertainment.

Briefly, the movie itself was Jamie Foxx, as a cab driver (with dreams larger than his city cab) driving a hired gun (Mr. Cruise) from hit to hit. At gunpoint, Mr. Foxx is a reluctant accomplice, but through his interaction with the passenger/assassin, he learns something important about himself and his place in life. I believe what he learns is pretty important for people like you and me, but you'd have to see the movie to evaluate that for yourself.

The acting was good, the scenes were shot very well, and the city of L.A. itself shines as the co-start that director Michael Mann intended it to be. Not that I clearly recall, but a famous director once said that Los Angeles was a city best shot at night, as during the day, it's not at all that pretty. In some cases, I beg to differ, but there is a sense of serene beauty during the night that belies the everyday muscular bustle writhing beneath the city when the sun is out.

Nowhere else will you find a movie like this made for today's audiences. As evidenced by the paltry $25 million made this weekend, the general public doesn't respond to Mr. Cruise like it used to, and most definitely it's not the type of balls-out braincrushing actioner that people expect during the summer film melee. I contend however, that the quiet and seething pace of the film makes it a more tense ride. When I need eye candy, I can watch Bruckheimer, Collateral is more than that and I welcome it.

Overall score: 4 out of 5 stars.