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Jamie Foxx: "Collateral"

I rented "Collateral" for around four dollars -- to watch yesterday, as a treat. "Collateral" was well-liked when it came out--despite Second Act problems--and people especially valued Jamie Foxx, who went on to a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. (He won Lead Actor in the same year, for "Ray.")

In "Collateral," Foxx is a man in his mid-thirties, thoroughly "stalled." He wants to own a business but instead drives a cab. He can't even propose a date when he meets someone he likes. It's his great luck that a charismatic psycho-killer--Tom Cruise--winds up in his backseat; by fighting the psycho-killer, Foxx finds his voice and starts to dream up a way to correct his own poor life decisions. (Only in the movies.)

This is a bit like "Training Day," and the two scripts are rather suspiciously close together in history. But "Training Day" doesn't have Jamie Foxx. As Foxx begins to develop a spine, you see a light start to flicker in his eyes, and then the light gets stronger and stronger. It really is graceful acting.

"Collateral" also gives us: Jada Pinkett-Smith being charming, Javier Bardem being creepy (part of the stellar Bardem three-act creep-fest, which also includes "No Country for Old Men" and the unforgettable "Skyfall"), and a nifty bit of symbolism involving Foxx's cab. (Watch what happens when the cab flips over....)

I did think Act Two dragged a bit, but I still enjoyed the surreal shots of L.A. and the conviction in the Foxx performance.

This is better-than-average Hollywood fare, and a fine way to spend a quarantined afternoon. Four stars.
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