Film Review - Collateral

Collateral is a film that promises a lot more than it delivers. Its central premise is relatively original, but once again American cinema-goers have ensured an unsatisfying denouement.

Jamie Foxx is the hub around which the film revolves. He plays Sam, a taxi driver who is kidding himself that he is just biding his time before moving on to better things, specifically a limo hire company of his own. Into Sam’s world steps Vincent, played by a disconcertingly grey-haired Tom Cruise. Vincent is a hired killer and he co-opts Sam into helping him for the evening as he sets about killing a series of witnesses in a high-profile case that is about to start.

What should follow is a scenario where both Vincent and Sam learn from one another, questioning their own views on life and encountering many of life’s complexities and moral questions, all in the space of one tempestuous night. What in fact follows is a turgid odd-couple romance.

From the minute that Vincent steps in the taxi, the pair start to fall out and in Hollywood there’s only one way a relationship like that will end – in bed. The path to this inevitable denouement is a rocky one, at least for the viewer.

How the scriptwriter contrived to get Vincent’s shirt off in the first thirty minutes of the film is one thing. But when he shortly after takes a tumble in a baby oil factory and emerges with a head to toe glossy sheen you can’t help but laugh. Sam’s leather trousered biker disguise is similarly preposterous and when the pair are mistaken for Navy recruits and given uniforms, you are compelled to walk out.

If you do manage to endure all of this, you are rewarded with a turgid half-hour at the end of the film, where Sam and Vincent buy a house and buy home furnishings before throwing a pool party for all their friends, including a number from their short stay in the Navy. The only enjoyment it is possible to glean from this film is a 30-second cameo from Steve the curlew as a hot-shot lawyer on Vincent’s hit list. If that doesn’t appeal, stay away.