message in the movies By Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

             
          
Collateral    Rated R
Directed by Michael Mann. Starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx

Photo © Dreamwroks SKE
Max (Foxx) is a cab driver in Los Angeles who lives a simple life of courteous service to his customers while dreaming of the possibilities of owning his own limousine company some day.  Max knows the streets of L.A. very well, but in the opening scenes of Collateral there is reason to believe that his life is probably a bit lonelier than most people and his dreams much more elusive.  Max will likely never be invited to enter the world of the movers and shakers who use his taxi.  And then Vincent (Cruise) enters his cab.  He offers to pay Max $500 for the entire night if he will take him to five different locations in L.A.  Vincent is plain-spoken, professional and friendly.  As Max soon discovers, Vincent is also a contract killer who plans to make five stops to eliminate witnesses for an upcoming federal investigation.  Max soon becomes a reluctant chauffeur, trapped by a ruthless assassin while actively trying to figure out a way to stop the killings.  As a thriller, Collateral is above-average, but what really sets this film apart is its moral complexity.  While Vincent is able to approach his work with detachment (after all, what is the life of one person compared to the thousands dying daily from hunger and other daily atrocities?), Max has a heart that refuses to disregard the value of a human life.

Collateral takes us into a bleak moral universe with only the virtue of one good man and argues that, indeed, that may still be more than enough.  Collateral has the look of a classic film noir but is brave enough to replace the traditional cynicism with optimistic hope.  Highly recommended.

Halo and Pitchfork Rating:  Three halos. . (An insightful morality play in the guise of a thriller.)  Two pitchforks.  (Cold-hearted acts of violence and some pervasive rough language.)

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