Tom Cruise’s best movie isn’t named Top Gun or Mission: Impossible. Really, it isn’t, so forget about that right now. If we were talking about the most famous Tom Cruise film… Sure, any movie from those two franchises would be up for discussion here. However, that isn’t the point of this feature, because simply because something is famous doesn’t mean it’s any good – case in point: Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Instead, let’s roll back the clock to 2004. A simpler time in humanity’s history where a bunch of Fockers made everyone laugh with clever puns and Spider-Man 2 spun a web of comic book movie excellence. Arguably, the year’s best film, though, came courtesy of Michael Mann. The famed director of Heat brought more action and intensity in the form of Collateral, a neo-noir nail-biter starring Jamie Foxx and Tom Cruise. It’s a film that scored a lot of love, even securing Foxx a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Academy Awards.
What’s Collateral about?
The best films start with the simplest premises, and Collateral is no different. The audience meets taxi driver Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx), who’s trying to save up enough money to start his own limousine business. Admirable. He has big dreams and the necessary drive to reach them as he knows the importance of the grind. However, his life changes when he picks up the mysterious and snazzy dressed Vincent (Tom Cruise) one evening.
Vincent has several locations on the agenda and offers Max a significant amount of dough to drive him around for the night. This is perfect for Max, as it’ll help him reach his limo business dream faster, right? Well… It’s all good and dandy until he finds out that Vincent is actually a hitman and he’s driving him around for his hits.
It could have been a vastly different movie than what it was
Like with any film in Hollywood’s production line, Collateral went through a number of changes and iterations before it settled on becoming the thrilling film that everyone knows and loves. At one point, the idea was to have it be somewhat more comedic like Martin Scorsese’s After Hours. Thankfully, someone had the common sense to not do that and stick to the action-thriller formula instead.
Then, it came down to casting. Before the Edge of Tomorrow actor took the part of Vincent, Russell Crowe was in line for the part, which would have certainly been an interesting casting choice in retrospect. Yet, Crowe didn’t sit around and wait until the studio decided to make the movie, because like Vincent said in the movie: “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” However, Crowe left behind another gift: Michael Mann as a director.
Mann selected Cruise for the role of Vincent and wanted Adam Sandler for Max. Again, this would have been an interesting pairing, mostly because the Sandman has proven he’s capable of playing serious roles when he isn’t making fart jokes for Happy Madison Productions. Sandler departed due to scheduling conflicts with Spanglish, though, and Mann settled on Foxx after having worked with him on Ali. Judging by Foxx’s Oscar-nominated performance here, it worked out well for everyone in the end.
Tom Cruise’s best movie proves he’s as good a villain as he is a hero
As one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood, it’s no surprise that Tom Cruise occupies the protagonist rather than antagonist role in most of his movies. Yet, his turn as Vincent in Collateral more than proves his mettle as a legitimate performer and that he should play bad guys more often – especially those with a little more thought written into the script. Vincent isn’t simply a cold-blooded killer with no personality or conscience. Instead, he reveals tidbits about his past throughout the film and a lot is discovered in the quiet scenes where nothing is said, too. There isn’t a “come to Jesus” moment for the hitman in the end, but there’s an important development and change to who he is as a person that wasn’t there when he steps into the cab for the first time.
For Cruise, as a performer, this role demonstrates he is more than a stunt-obsessed actor or one-line-quipping action hero, though. Vincent spends a lot of time in his own head, and so does Cruise here, as he conveys the portrait of a man who shows the world a facade but holds a world of damage inside him. Yes, he’s dangerous and in the line of work that no one wants to be a part of, but he’s also a three-dimensional human being who made choices for specific reasons to get here. In Collateral, Tom Cruise refuses to hide behind gimmicks or franchise goodwill to get by. He simply acts – and boy, does he do it well! For that reason alone, there’s no disputing that Collateral is his best movie yet.
Tell us, should Collateral be considered Tom Cruise’s best movie? Let us know in the comments!
Collateral |
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A cab driver finds himself the hostage of an engaging contract killer as he makes his rounds from hit to hit during one night in Los Angeles. |
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| Studio: DreamWorks Pictures, Paramount Pictures, United International Pictures |
| Running Time: 120 minutes |
| Release Date: August 6, 2004 |
| Cast: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill |
| Director: Michael Mann |
| Writers: Stuart Beattie |
| Genre: Action, Crime, Drama |
| Box Office: $220.9 million |
