Nothing Personal

I ended 2004 with a monster post, yet there were plenty of “unresolutions” I ran out of space and time to cover. For one thing I didn't talk about taking a real vacation, or at the very least more than five consecutive days without combining weekends and holidays, something I haven't done since I graduated college nearly a decade ago. Another goal, one I'd really like to achieve, is to conquer my driving “spells”. With that in mind, and my cold symptoms finally ameliorating somewhat, I boldly took my mom's car keys and declared that I would be driving to church this evening. With confidence and energy I backed out of the driveway, headed down the street and out on to the main road, talking away when suddenly I caught a glimpse of something peripherally. On the other side of the road someone in a small black car with tinted windows had decided to make a U-turn from his parking space across four lanes of traffic. I screamed and hit the brakes, as did they, stopping just in FRONT of us before flooring it and continuing in to the right lane on our side and zooming down a side street. Unshaken, I offered to drive again after mass, and noticed a bus pulled over in front of me letting off passengers. There was no one in the left lane as I favored it a bit to pass the bus, but when the bus suddenly pulled out, apparently unaware of our presence and forcing me over more, the blare of a horn cued me in to the presence of a large SUV on my left. I started to move right but the bus was this huge wall blocking that move, and the SUV sped off ahead, giving me room to get to the left and finish passing the bus. And when we pulled in to Burger King to pick up dinner, a car zoomed across our path in the parking lot, flying over a speed bump and ignoring the entrance from which we were about to emerge. Whatever. I'm still going to beat this thing if it kills me. But I'll never be a cab driver

It takes a certain kind of personality to drive a Taxi. I don't have the patience, nerve, reflexes, or knowledge of enough routes and traffic patterns to be a good driver. A cabbie has to be able to plan ahead and have contingency plans ready, and be able to improvise when those fail due to unforseen variables. Planning. Improvisation. Two opposite concepts stronger when one doesn't rely solely on one or the other.

Michael Mann's Collateral is a true work of art, a masterpiece. Several in fact: two portraits and a landscape. According to his commentary track, the only major change he made to Stuart Beattie's script was to transplant the location from New York to Los Angeles. L.A. at night is an amazing backdrop for this tale, an urban jungle aglow with abundant artificial light, crowded in some places, empty in others, with the occasional cameo by once-and-future dominant wildlife. Against this setting are two distinct characters with starkly different origins and career tracks. One is cool and methodical, planning for the future and sacrificing everything for a goal just out reach because he himself keeps moving the goal posts. Another is a lover of jazz, a cool survivor able to improvise, to take action first and stay one step ahead. Both men have a keen focus on their business; nothing is personal. When fate brings them together, a long night begins after which neither will be the same, for better or worse. Hopefully, that was vague enough to create interest without bordering too much on spoiler territory; I'd rather discuss the film in terms of theme and atmosphere than plot specifics, and leave some surprises for those who have yet to see it.

Collateral is one of those movies in which the actors so immerse themselves in their roles that you see the character first and the actor second. That's a rare thing these days. I guarantee you've never seen Tom Cruise like this, and I don't mean the gray hair or his character's profession. He's wonderfully COMPLEX. Jamie Foxx shows just what a true talent he is and how far he's come since his In Living Color days. I caught glimpses of his dramatic potential at times on his sitcom, but his range really comes out here, ironically in minimalism. Both actors say more with facial expressions than dialogue, and I especially identified with Jamie's plight(beyond the one any who've at least seen the trailers are aware of). I really need to see Ray, especially after this. And I'm especially interested in seeing Foxx in the upcoming film version of Mann's Miami Vice, though I'm not certain of Colin Farrell as Crockett to his Tubbs.

The primary focus is a character study of Foxx and Cruise's characters, but the cast is rounded out with fine performances by Jada Pinkett Smith and Mark Ruffalo, to name but two. The situations are punctuated masterfully by an eclectic range of music, from riveting Spanish beats to Miles Davis jazz to haunting Chris Cornell wailing with Audioslave. Every piece of music is carefully chosen and well-placed. During what I would call a “hero” moment in the film, a turning point in character development for one of the players, I listened very carefully to Cornell's lyrics in the background, marvelling at how they were describing exactly what was going on. From beginning to end, this film is a well constructed work of art.

If I were to compile a personal top ten best list of 2004 movies as I mentioned last week, this would definitely be on it. Because of my tastes, only Spider-man 2 might rank higher, though it would be an unfair comparison of disparate genres. I did realize after seeing Collateral that I wouldn't be able to make a best or worst list for a while. There are some 2004 movies I've yet to see that I know would make one list or the other, so that idea will have to wait. I have been talking way too much about myself lately, so I do want to get back to more movies, comics, games and other obscure references as blogging topics. So tonight was nothing personal. Well, except for that first paragraph. And the fact that the review is based on my personal opinion of the movie and the cast. I suppose I'm still seeking a focus for my blog, settling in somewhere between personal journal and review of (sometimes obscure) pop culture.