COLLATERAL

Allowing for a couple of colossal coincidences (the biggest of which is at least fairly established early on), COLLATERAL is a really satisfying thriller. Stuart Beattie's script delivers detailed characterizations and consistent surprises, while Michael Mann's direction gives us a good slow build before reaching a pitch of kinetic ferocity. Excellent performances by Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx as two men who really will never be buddies make the movie memorable.

Foxx plays Max Durocher, a Los Angeles cabbie who can accurately predict drive time to the minute, yet somehow hasn't been able to muster the confidence to bring his business dreams to life. We see Max going about his routine of servicing his cab, picking up and dropping off fares lawyer Annie (Jada Pinkett-Smith) is too pretty and too charming for him or us to forget before Vincent (Cruise) gets into the back seat. Vincent says he's in town to visit friends and has five stops to make before returning to LAX at dawn. If Max will be his driver for the whole night, saving Vincent the time and hassle of having to line up more cab rides, the visitor to L.A. will pay the cabbie double what he'd normally make during the timeframe. Max is reluctant it's against company policy but money is money. Max takes Vincent to his first stop where something unplanned happens. Simply sitting in his parked cab, Max discovers in a very direct way that Vincent is a hit man. Vincent, quite the pro himself, admires Max's various skills and therefore won't kill him before the entire job is done Max is the best driver he's likely to get for the night. Max tries everything he can think of to get out of his truly frightening predicament as he is forced to chauffeur Vincent on his deadly rounds.

The plot is deliciously unpredictable, with twists that we mostly don't see coming (except for that big, telegraphed first one). Cruise has an icy discontent and sense of personal self-injury he takes it personally when things go wrong that give Vincent human qualities. Foxx is an intelligent, empathetic Everyman figure, bringing natural humor to the moments that allow for comedy without for an instant losing Max's essential seriousness. Javier Bardem makes a striking impression as a local mover and shaker and Mark Ruffalo scores as a sympathetic cop.

As in HEAT, Mann finds visual poetry in L.A. after dark it twinkles and gleams against the night. His long shots make us eager to get closer to what we're seeing, and when we do, it's always something vigorous and volatile. There are some quasi-traditional setpieces here, but even these have real suspense Mann knows how to make both his characters and his audiences sweat.

COLLATERAL has it both ways: it's got the narrative satisfactions of a good crime novel and the audio/visual pizzazz of expert filmmaking.