Hindsight

My moviegoing experiences have, lately, always come with some sort of catch: this time it was a couple who would speak the obvious during the film. It really shuts me down when I’ve focused my energy into a film. People talking during the movie, sly remarks and cel phone displays glaring at random times. I’ll be frank - these people need to stop.

Despite all this, Collateral delivered.

I’m a little different. Tangentially, I know American Pie star John Cho (Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle) for his performance in Better Luck Tomorrow. So, in that same general fog, I’m not all that familiar with Jamie Foxx’s comedy. It was easy for the movie audience to let out some laughs when Foxx was supposed to be serious. I found this a little bothersome and was actually filtering the movie through the laughs from one of the first intense scene.

As the film picked up, though, most everyone seemed to acclimate themselves to his more serious side.

Cruise performs well as an articulate hitman of sorts. Foxx, the cabbie who doesn’t push himself enough. I didn’t need convincing - both Fox and Cruise’s interplay delivered.

In several instances, we see the Los Angeles cityscape from directly overhead. Shots like these are concepts that I dream of executing someday. To see them in this film manifested some envy and jealousy in me. But, damn, the shots were beautiful. Lines and symmetry. Veins of the city, cars as cells…

Amber… shades of mint… these colors have never looked so good. It’s exactly what I was hoping to see, especially for a Michael Mann film.

I bought the soundtrack on Sunday. I am wondering if Mann was forced to choose a song for a key sequence in the film (Dreamworks + marketing) or if he decided to put Audioslave in because the lyrics matched well with the visuals. I wasn’t expecting it. Honestly, I would have preferred that a non-vocal song be used for that scene. Keep it even more enigmatic.

This is the second Mann film I’ve seen: my first was Heat. I’ve seen that well over five times and it remains one of my all time favorite films.

Collateral romanticizes the city… studies character… breaks from the action and a snaps back into it. Recommended.