Tom Cruise as a villain? It’s already happened once, under the leadership of the great Michael Mann. In the excellent thriller Collateral, released in cinemas in 2004, the Hollywood star plays a ruthless and ruthless killer who crashes into a taxi driven by Jamie Foxx when he has five “targets” to eliminate… a classic that you will quickly (re)discover. Netflix!
A sublime nocturnal thriller orchestrated by a man to whom we owe a cult of warmth, Collateral is a marvel of staging. A twilight film, tense, breathless, with a crazy atmosphere that will have you in a few frames… Great cinema, therefore, with Tom Cruise, who we first discover as a bad guy. And what is clearly convincing in this new register.
To play the character of Vincent, Tom Cruise trained with Mick Gould, a former member of England’s Special Intervention Unit, who had already been hired by Michael Mann as a technical advisor to the Heat. Next to him, the actor learned how to kill a man with his bare hands, a knife and a pistol, and to recognize places to escape as quickly as possible.
Bail, if it allows us to discover Tom Cruise in a counter-intuitive role, also reveals the actor in a completely new physical appearance, with silver hair and a growing beard. “Michael himself defined the overall look of the character, from the hair to the costume to the beard”– says Cruz. “We started by studying him on the computer, and Michael impressed me with the incredible sharpness of his gaze. I loved working with him. No detail escapes him, he is extremely meticulous.”
And the collateral story, where does it come from? From the personal experience of screenwriter Stuart Beattie, who says: “One day, leaving the airport, I got into a taxi and started talking to the driver. At the end of the ride, when we were talking like two old friends, it suddenly dawned on me that this man was not real. Know something about me. He had his back to me, I had it in my power and I could be dangerous. I wanted to be a psychopath. So I thought it would be interesting to confront two characters isolated in a confined space like that. That was the starting point of the story.”
A brilliant thriller that undoubtedly offers Tom Cruise one of his finest performances (let’s not forget Jamie Foxx is also excellent!), so it’s worth a quick binge on Netflix. A note at the end of a certain… secret appearance by Jason Statham. Another reason not to miss this little thriller.
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Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
