'Collateral' -the movie-

[wesbed]

I viewed 'Collateral' last night. It was a damn good movie and my pick for the best of the summer (so far). The movie was filmed, at night, in Los Angeles. Lots of footage of the characters in the foreground with the lights of Los Angles occupying the background. Lots of footage of the city passing by as the characters travel around the city in a taxi cab. Lots of neon lights, in blues and greens, displaying the city's night life.

I like the night time and, as a result, felt very comfortable while watching the movie. The director, Michael Mann, did an excellent job, in my opinion, of mixing the night scenes with crisp dialogue, great use of the camera, and a well-chosen soundtrack.

There is a certain point in the film where jazz, for a short time, takes center stage. Miles Davis is mentioned and a story is told. It's interesting that 'Collateral' and 'The Terminal' have both had jazz connections this summer. In my opinion, this is because jazz is 'mysterious' and 'underground.' A movie can mention jazz, say whatever it wants about the music, and the average person in the audience will be none the wiser.

Edited August 16, 2004 by wesbed

[ghost of miles]

I haven't seen either movie, but it's true (IMO) that jazz has a certain cultural cachet that works both to its advantage and its disadvantage. It's seen as important, serious, and perpetually hip music--but the first two adjectives there sometimes make people go, "Oh, it's supposed to be good for me--they want me to eat my cultural vegetables."

[sal]

I saw this movie last night. I completely agree with you, wesbed, about the look of the film. It was fantastic looking. Michael Mann is really comfortable with that Los Angeles urban pallete. The music score, cinematography, and Tom Cruise's performance were all really tight. The scene in the dance club was one of the best action scenes ever. However, it ended there for me.

To me, the monologue about jazz was the only part of the film that I felt was strongly written. Too much of the dialogue seemed tacky to me. Perhaps with a stronger lead actor it would have came off better, but Jamie Foxx just isn't there yet when it comes to dramatic acting. That part when Tom Cruse was asking him if he was stressed out...Foxx's facial expressions were just really fake looking. And Jada Pinckett...forget about it. Beautiful woman, horrible actress.

I feel that if Mann had approached "Collateral" in a more similar way that he did "Heat" (aka more avant-garde) instead of the more mainstream way he did, the film could have been much better. Its close, but I can't quite recommend this film. 5 out of 10. A definite rental.

By the way, when the jazz musicians were performing, was that just the recording of "Spanish Key", or were they playing it? Either way, it sounded good!

Edited August 16, 2004 by sal

[wesbed]

By the way, when the jazz musicians were performing, was that just the recording of "Spanish Key", or were they playing it? Either way, it sounded good!

I do remember Spanish Key. I think it was Miles and crew playing from the Bitches Brew album. I didn't listen as intently as I normally would. I was taking in the great scenes and colors of the film. I'll need to check the soundtrack to be sure. I did notice, however, that the electric pianos used in Spanish Key were playing in the film but there were no electric pianos on the stage.

[BruceH]

Is it something in the air? I saw it last night too! Just a whim; it was playing in a nearby theater that has a really huge screen. It was considerably better than I expected (but my expectations were rather low.) It struck me as a good popcorn movie, one that you can relax with and just sit back and enjoy the ride, if you'll pardon the expression. The jazz connection was interesting to me too. In fact, I enjoyed the jazz segment of Collateral more than the jazz connection in The Terminal, probably because in the case of the former, I didn't know it was coming, whereas I'll admit that I saw Terminal just to see a few seconds of Benny Golson on the big screen.

The Tom Cruise character, Vincent, actually seems have a real appreciation and understanding of jazz, and knowledge of its history too, at least with respect to Miles Davis. This was one of the best scenes in the movie, for me, when they're in the jazz club. Max (Jamie Foxx) says, "I never gave jazz the listening time," or some such, which makes it sound as if jazz is some difficult, esoteric thing that takes a lot of effort to get into. This is a common misconception, unfortunately, so it seemed like a realistic (if depressing) thing for the guy to say. I felt like telling him that it's only difficult if you START with Ornette Coleman! Anyway, the jazz section was a nice plus, for me.