Rating of
3/4
The intelligent man's action movie
goodfellamike - wrote on 10/26/08
Michael Mann’s new thriller dares to turn pretty boy, good-natured Tom Cruise into a ruthless, silver-haired, existentialism-spouting assassin, but not only that, it makes him likable.
Vincent (Cruise) is in Los Angeles for ten hours to murder five people for a kingpin named Felix (Javier Bardem). His ride is a taxi cab, driven by the unsuspecting Max (Jamie Foxx), who’s been driving for twelve years while in the stagnant pursuit of his own limosine company; a dream he swears he will make happen. Vincent's proposal is for Max to drive him around for $600. Max is fine with the arrangement until a dead body falls on the hood of his car. There are soon some cops and feds in pursuit of both Vincent and Max, and the unbeknowing Max fears he has just met quite possibly his soul mate in Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith), the passenger he drops off right before Vincent steps into his world and turns it upside down.
The plot is moderately original, but the script takes a backseat to character development and technique. Mann crafts a thriller so proliferating in suspense that each new turn is a surprise. He gives us characters we don’t know, introduces them to us and involves us in their every decision and nuance. We empathize with Max because he’s such a likable and wise loner who knows what he wants in life if only he would go after it. We sort of cheer on Vincent in his quest to assassinate five people because he sells his occupation to us so effortlessly and convincingly, we believe him when he says they’re really bad people he’s offing. And we can’t help but be totally immersed in the cat-and-mouse game that develops between these two characters both physically and emotionally.
We’re not too involved with the police officers, however, who pop in and out of the story at the drop of a hat with new leads and new ideas, and we can’t help but feel they’re intruding with the real meat of the story. Max and Vincent are the core of the film, and when they’re on, it’s heart never stops beating.
Foxx, who many may recall from In Living Color, makes an intense dramatic impression as Max, even though he’s also a lot of the film’s comic relief. He gives Max many layers of thought and intrigue while trying to save his own skin and completely emulates the loner persona with world-weary integrity. Cruise is calculating and icy, but gives Vincent such charisma he doesn’t even feel like a villain most of the time. Their chemistry together is enough to fill two films.
This is an intelligent man’s action film that eventually succumbs to the obligatory conclusions involving a darkened pursuit in an office building, a long chase through a subway station and shoot-outs on a train; these are the scenes that undermine the previous hour and a half, although they are expertly directed. Mann has crackling, tight control in this Los Angeles night-world thriller and makes it a refreshing change of pace...most of the way. Final Grade: B+
