While the kids were celebrating Rosh Hashona with their mom’s family, I decided to check out the latest Tom Cruise movie-thing, Collateral.
It was okay. Tom Cruise plays a hit man who hires cabdriver Jamie Foxx for the evening while Cruise does his, uh, business. Jamie figures out pretty early what Cruise is up to (the body falling on his taxicab is about as subtle as a hint could be), and amidst the evening’s mayhem we get to see Foxx’s character transform from a mild-mannered dude into someone a little more assertive. Cruise is great as a sociopath who quotes (or attempts to quote) the I Ching and Darwin, while clearly enjoying his work.
Mark Ruffalo, who seems to be popping up everywhere these days, is an undercover cop who figures out what’s going on. The thing about Ruffalo is that his “tough” act still makes him look like a pretty nice guy. Another cop “owns” another case that turns out to be connected with the one Ruffalo is on, so we get the scene where two LAPD guys argue over what’s really going on. (The other cop was played by Bruce McGill, the guy who played D-Day in Animal House. I thought it was Stacy Keach at first.)
Lots of product placement here, from the Bacardi sign on the top of Foxx’s taxi (which is in clear focus in almost every shot of the cab), to a PNY USB memory key, to the constant reappearance of my employer’s LA building in helicopter shots.
For mindless Saturday Night entertainment, it was good. Overall, I’d have to give it 6 stars out of 10.
Next up: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.