Tom Cruise’s Villainous Turn in Michael Mann’s ‘Collateral’ Remains One of His Best

The Big Picture

• Tom Cruise’s performance in
  Collateral
  showcases his ability to portray a subversively evil and intimidating character, flipping his typical heroic charm into something terrifying.
• The dynamic between Cruise and Jamie Foxx grows to thrilling heights as they navigate the streets of Los Angeles, with Cruise’s character challenging Foxx’s to take control of his life.
• The collaboration between Tom Cruise and director Michael Mann, known for their commitment to authenticity, creates a dynamite combination that brings out the best in both of them.

These days, when you think of Tom Cruise, you likely think of him riding motorcycles off of cliffs, as he most recently did in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One. While we wait for the next installment in the Mission: Impossible franchise, it’s a good time to revisit a smaller scale thriller in which he portrays a character even Ethan Hunt would struggle to take down. Cruise is known broadly as a heroic figure, playing characters like Hunt or Maverick in Top Gun who are unrelenting in their drive to save the day. When Michael Mann, director of Thief and Heat, brought him on for Collateral, audiences did not know they were in for a subversively evil outing from Cruise.

Despite the whiplash of seeing Cruise’s typical charm and Cheshire Cat grin twisted into a purely intimidating force of a character, Collateral is one of his finest films, and deserves much more attention when thinking about Cruise’s best performances. 20 years later, Collateral has established itself as one of the most technologically innovative, thoughtful, and well crafted thrillers of its time. Mann and Cruise take a detail-oriented approach that brings the seedy, late-night underworld of Los Angeles to life, and Collateral‘s intense character dynamics make it a more reflective thriller than most, as it is ultimately driven by a contrast of philosophy between the hero and villain.

What Is Michael Mann’s ‘Collateral’ About?

Collateral was released in 2004, and returned Mann to the crime thriller genre that his career was built on after The Insider and Ali took him in different directions. The movie follows a cab driver working a night-shift in Los Angeles, who picks up a mysterious passenger revealed to be a hit man. Collateral becomes a terrifying trip for the cabbie, who is stuck driving the hit man from kill to kill, and clashing with him over his immoral line of work.

Although Mann’s interest in digital cinematography began with a few short sequences in Ali, Collateral was his first movie shot almost entirely on digital, with only one major sequence shot on a film camera. Mann embracing early digital filmmaking set a standard for the filmmakers around him to approach the medium as something revolutionary for the world of film. While many digital films made today are designed to replicate the look of film, Mann allows Collateral to stand out by emphasizing the digital quality of the shoot. He would later expand on this approach in Miami Vice and Public Enemies, proving himself to be one of the most innovative directors within the new medium, alongside the likes of David Fincher and David Lynch.

Collateral‘s approach of depicting a thrilling narrative that takes place all over one night allows for the character dynamic to really shine, as in what feels like real time, a cab-driver-turned-reluctant-murder-accomplice slowly develops into a hero of sorts. It’s a slick, stylish thriller with a simple premise that leads to a complex, internal journey for the lead character.

Tom Cruise Is a Terrifying Passenger in ‘Collateral’

Cruise portrays Vincent, introduced in the first moments of the film, sporting stark white hair, dark sunglasses, and a solid gray suit. Vincent picks up a briefcase at an airport in a suspicious exchange featuring a cameo from Jason Statham, who’s potentially portraying his Transporter character, as it’s in the same universe as Collateral. The film then shifts to the character of Max, portrayed by Jamie Foxx. Max is a late-night cab driver working toward the ambition of starting his own limousine company. After a charming scene where Max gives a ride to Annie (Jada Pinkett Smith), Vincent enters his cab and a fateful fare begins, one which will wreak havoc through the streets of Los Angeles and change Max’s life forever.

Vincent begins the cab ride on the basis that he is simply a business person needing to meet with some associates at five different stops. Max hesitates to stick with a single fare for the night, but Vincent flashes $600 in cash for his services and Max decides to go for it. The night foreshadowed by their early conversation seems easygoing, but a minute after the first stop, a body plummets onto the roof of the cab. Max panics, and upon Vincent’s return, it becomes clear that Vincent is responsible for the dead body that they now have to quickly hide to avoid being caught. This is the point where Cruise’s arresting charm is inverted into something terrifying, as Vincent threatens Max’s life and proclaims to him that their ride must continue as planned if he wants to make it through the night unharmed.

Cruise has flipped a switch, and, despite continuing to disarm Foxx’s character through gentle banter and jokes, there is a cruel and lifeless gleam in Vincent’s eye which makes it clear that Max is dealing with a man who will kill him and anyone who gets in his way without remorse. Vincent, dressed and poised in a manner that echoes a great white shark, is a ruthless hit man with four more names on his list. As they work their way through the city, Vincent repeatedly challenges Max to take control of a life Vincent perceives to be passive and cowardly. Max learns to hold his own against Vincent as the two bicker back and forth, and the dynamic between Cruise and Foxx grows to more thrilling and entertaining heights.

Tom Cruise Takes Michael Mann’s Villain Character to New Heights

When Max discovers that Vincent’s final target is Annie, revealed to be the prosecutor working on a case in which all the victims of Vincent’s killing spree have been related, Max decides to finally take his fate into his own hands. Ultimately, Vincent appears in Max’s life almost as a twisted inversion of the angel from It’s a Wonderful Life, showing him the darkest end of the human experience and pushing him to greater ambitions for what Vincent believes to be the betterment of his own life. Cruise plays all of this with such intense precision, crafting the most overtly villainous version of the typical Michael Mann character who is utterly devoted to his professionalism and oftentimes detached from all personal relationships.

Vincent’s cold, philosophical dialogue brushes against Max, who he derides for watching his life slip away from the comfortable seat of his taxi cab. Vincent is brutally honest with Max, and causes Max to confront his own lack of ambition. Max does eventually come to take some of Vincent’s advice, and builds enough confidence to actually stand up for himself and fight for what he wants, leading to a head-to-head gunfight between the two. Vincent ultimately sealed his own fate by giving Max the kick that he always needed to get his life in order, and although he is a ruthless villain, it feels as though the two grew to respect each other by the end of their time together.

Tom Cruise and Michael Mann Are a Perfect Pairing

Putting Tom Cruise in your movie usually means you are going to find him diving headfirst into whatever niche skill or profession the character engages in, whether it be flying helicopters in Mission: Impossible – Fallout or shooting pool in Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money. Being a central character in a Michael Mann movie typically means you are going to end up firing live rounds, operating heavy equipment used by real, professional criminals, and devoting months of your life to understanding the profession of your character. These two figures are known for striving for authenticity in their art, so Mann’s tendency to lean toward verisimilitude combined with Cruise’s enthusiasm for embodying every aspect of a character makes for a dynamite actor-director combination.

Mann has spoken about the intense preparation Cruise brought in various talks and on the film’s behind-the-scenes features. Considering Mann’s unusually thorough process, working with an actor as laser-focused as Cruise allowed for a creatively challenging and fruitful environment. Given Mann’s affinity for jazz, including a sequence set in a jazz club in Collateral, his working relationship with Cruise is comparable to two jazz musicians riffing and building off of each other’s work.

Cruise also worked undercover as a courier to see if he could accomplish getting from one point to another without being recognized, thankfully delivering packages instead of taking on the experience of a contract killer firsthand. The dedication makes scenes like the massive nightclub shootout worth all the effort as Cruise moves through the room like a Terminator, taking down henchmen left and right, or the final confrontation with Foxx and Pinkett Smith where Cruise is playing Vincent akin to a slasher villain lurking in the shadows.

Tom Cruise Needs To Play More Villains

Mann and Cruise really are a match made in heaven, as you have a director who consistently strives for authenticity, and an actor who is so ambitious that he will jump out of a plane 100 times for our entertainment. Mann had Cruise work through marksman training, and similarly had Foxx shadow actual cab drivers to understand the culture and attitude of the job. Cruise completely embodies the calculated hit man character, and his combination of seamlessly efficient, near-robotic physicality, expert handling of firearms, and cold delivery of dialogue makes him a perfect villain, while Foxx transforms into a relatively meek, down-to-earth character despite his usual performances beaming with bright, cool, charisma.

Mann has directed many actors in iconic roles, most notably James Caan in Thief and Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Heat, and these characters often have a lot of overlap in terms of personality and thematic arcs. Cruise’s Vincent checks some of the typical Mann boxes: a lonely criminal, dedicated to his work more than anything, exhibiting antisocial tendencies. However, Cruise brings a pure evil core out of Vincent which makes him stand out among the rest of Mann’s most well-regarded characters.

Cruise has only played a handful of villains, and in the years since the release of Collateral, the number of characters who are in any way ethically compromised is almost zero. Seeing Collateral in this light makes it clear that moviegoers are sorely missing out on the chance to see Cruise take on another dark role, one which allows him to channel this cold and calculated side that has not been utilized on screen in years. Vincent remains one of Cruise’s best roles and one which stands out as especially remarkable due to how much of an anomaly the masterpiece that is Collateral appears to be when compared with the rest of his career.

Collateral is available to watch on Pluto TV in the U.S.

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