Collateral (2004)

A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles.

Director:

Michael Mann

Writer:

Stuart Beattie

Stars:

Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 22 wins & 71 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Cruise	...	Vincent
Jamie Foxx	...	Max
Jada Pinkett Smith	...	Annie
Mark Ruffalo	...	Fanning
Peter Berg	...	Richard Weidner
Bruce McGill	...	Pedrosa
Irma P. Hall	...	Ida
Barry Shabaka Henley	...	Daniel
Richard T. Jones	...	Traffic Cop #1
Klea Scott	...	Fed #1
Bodhi Elfman	...	Young Professional Man
Debi Mazar	...	Young Professional Woman
Javier Bardem	...	Felix
Emilio Rivera	...	Paco
Jamie McBride	...	Traffic Cop #2

Storyline

This action thriller follows LA cabbie Max Durocher, the type of person who can wax poetic about other people's lives, which impresses U.S. Justice Department prosecutor Annie Farrell, one of his fares, so much that she gives him her telephone number at the end of her ride. Although a dedicated man as seen through the efficiency in which he does his work, he can't or won't translate that eloquence into a better life for himself. He deludes himself into believing that his now twelve year cabbie job is temporary and that someday he will own his own limousine service. He even lies to his hospitalized mother that he already owns one, with a further lie that he tells her as such primarily to make her happy, rather than the truth which is that he won't do anything to achieve that dream. One night, Max picks up a well dressed man named Vincent, who asks Max to be his only fare for the evening. For a flat fee of $600, plus an extra $100 if he gets to the airport on time - Vincent wants Max to...

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Plot Keywords:

los angeles california | taxi | contract killer | taxi driver | assassin | 

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Taglines:

It started like any other night

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stuart Beattie wanted the studio to cast Robert De Niro as Max (once again making him a taxi driver, though the exact opposite of Travis Bickle). However the studio refused, insisting they wanted a younger actor in the role.

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Goofs

Vincent tells Max that damage to the taxi will be covered by his General Liability Umbrella policy. An Umbrella policy and a General Liability policy are two separate types of policy and collision coverage to a vehicle would not be covered under either.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Vincent: You OK?
Airport Man: Yeah, I'm fine mate, don't worry about it.

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Crazy Credits

The Dreamworks and Paramount logos are in black and white.

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Connections

References North by Northwest (1959)

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Soundtracks

Güero Canelo
Written by Joey Burns
Performed by Calexico
Courtesy of Quarterstick Records

User Reviews

Hold Tom Cruise as collateral until you get your money back

This is one of the worst movies in a long time. The plot is absolutely ridiculous. It will have you screaming at the way the characters behave. Tom Cruise is a hit man who comes to LA to bump off 4 victims in one night. He hires Jamie Foxx's cab to drive him around. The first victim falls out of a window onto the cab. Incredibly, Foxx allows himself to help Cruise put the corpse in the trunk and then, more incredibly, allows himself to drive Cruise around for the rest of the night as Cruise bumps off his next victims. Along the way there are coincidences such as Foxx, Cruise and a cop investigating being in the same elevator and a female attorney who happens to get into Foxx's cab just before Cruise does. The script was written by people who think the audience is full of idiots and will actually accept characters behaving so stupidly. The fact that Foxx helps Cruise along the way is ridiculous and makes him a totally unsympathetic character. After Cruise has murdered 3 people, they actually have the gall to have Cruise and Foxx sit in the cab and talk personally. Maybe this is supposed to be a comedy. If so, it isn't funny. Unless the moronic screenwriters think a hit man is funny.

Jamie Foxx is a good actor and doesn't deserve to be in a totally ridiculous piece of drivel such as this.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish French Korean

Release Date:

6 August 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Collateral

Filming Locations:

1912 N Cahuenga Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,701,458, 8 August 2004

Gross USA:

$101,005,703

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$220,926,695

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Dreamworks Pictures, Parkes/MacDonald Image Nation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1