History Film / Collateral

* ManOfWealthAndTaste: Vincent in his suit again

--> [[spoiler:'''Vincent:'' Hey, Max. A guy gets on the MTA here in LA. Dies. Think anybody will notice?]]

* AlwaysNight: Plays out over the course of one night.

* BadassDriver: Max

* TheCartel: Felix, Vincent's employer

-->Sure... he's depressed so he jumps four stories out of a window onto his head. "Wow, that feels better." Picks himself up. "Now I think I'll go on with the rest of my day."

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Vincent at the end of the film. After he and Max unload their entire magazines at each other in a blind shoot-out, Vincent attempts to reload, only to drop the new clip. A moment later we realize why, as the camera pulls back to reveal that Vincent has been fatally gut-shot. Rather than try to pick the clip back up and attempt to finish the job, he instead calmly puts away his gun, adjusts his suit, and sits down on a train seat. He then waits calmly for Max to come sit across from him before uttering his LastWords, and then quietly slumps over dead.]]
--> [[spoiler:Vincent: "Hey, Max, a guy gets on the MTA here in LA and dies. Think anybody will notice?"]]

** Early on, Vincent complains about how much he hates LA, and how impersonal and disconnected everyone is, to the point that [[spoiler:he heard a story about a man who died on the MTA and went unnoticed for six hours before anyone realized he was dead. At the end of the film, he dies, alone on a train car, sitting upright and well-dressed, in the wee hours of the morning... where no one is likely to find him for hours.]]

* GambitPileUp: The club shootout devolves into one, in which six different factions are involved, all with wildly varying interests. The Feds think Max is Vincent, and try to arrest him while escorting Lin (Vincent's target) safely out of the building. LAPD Detective Ray Fanning knows something is up and that the Feds are acting prematurely, and tries to help Max. Max just wants to get through the whole thing alive, and also prevent Vincent from killing his mother if he fails. Vincent wants to kill Lin, while using Max as a decoy. Lin's security guards are just trying to protect their boss, are startled by the Feds rushing in with guns, and turn the thing into a shooting spree to start with. Felix's guards think Max is Vincent, and will kill him if things go wrong. [[spoiler:Vincent comes out on top. The Feds are rendered useless by Lin’s bodyguards, Felix's guards are scared off by Vincent, he kills both Lin and his bodyguards, he kills Ray after Ray just escorted Max out of the building, and forces Max to continue driving him to his next target]].

* HitmanWithAHeart: Subverted. Vincent tries to convince Max he's this, saying he only kills bad people, thus "taking out the garbage." His daddy issues also serve to make him sympathetic. But then, Max learns [[spoiler: the people Vincent's killing are witnesses for a case against a drug lord, and Vincent honestly has no qualms with it. We also learn from the cop that his MO is to take a taxi cab driver hostage to drive him around and then fake said driver's "suicide" after the other killings are done, implicating the dead man for the murder.]]
* HopeSpot: About two-thirds of the way through the film, [[spoiler: Detective Fanning pulls Max away from a nightclub firefight to safety. He believes his story, looks like he's going to help solve all of Max's woes...then is gunned down by Vincent without a pause]].

* LackOfEmpathy: Vincent, throughout. Although, he does show a slight bit of regret after killing [[spoiler:Daniel]].

* UsefulNotes/LosAngeles: the setting for the movie; so prominent, it might as well be a character itself

* [[MeleeATrois Melee A Quatre]]: In the nightclub during the fourth hit: Max and Vincent (with Max standing in for Vincent while Vincent follows him) vs some mafiosos (who were sent after 'Vincent' just in case the hit goes wrong) vs the LAPD (who try to both protect the victim and locate Vincent and his supposed partner-in-crime) vs the victim's bodyguards (who start firing at everyone with a gun). It helps that the room is completely cramped with panicking partygoers and the lights go on and off.

* NiceGuy: Max. Very much so. He's quick to sympathise with people he's just met [[spoiler:including Vincent's victims]] and goes out of his way to treat his customers well, even though driving a cab is "only temporary" for him. That treasured picture of a holiday resort he looks at whenever he needs to relax? He gives it to a stranger he's just met, because she's stressed out over her job and he can tell she needs it. Awwww.

* PrivateMilitaryContractors: It's hinted at in the movie and stated outright in the commentary that Vincent works for such a group
* ProfessionalKiller: Vincent is an assassin, and a quite evil one at that.
* RuleOfSymbolism: The infamous coyote scene, possibly hinting at the fundamental differences between Vincent and Max. Max stops the car for a simple stray animal, one that couldn't even really be someone's pet, but nonetheless goes out of his way to not kill it, even though hitting it would have no legal consequences and wouldn't slow down the cab much, if at all. Vincent seems more confused then anything else that Max has stopped, and there's a moment of silence between them afterwords, as Vincent seems to finally pick up on what Max just said to him: he really ''is'' incapable of comprehending an individuals reasons for doing something, as his almost awed graze at Max's head shows that he simply cannot fathom the reason behind Max's actions.
* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Detective Fanning, the only one who believed Max's story and could have saved him.]]
* ShownTheirWork: According to the director, Vincent's job as an assassin requires him to get in and out of places without being recognized or remembered, so Tom Cruise prepared for the role by practicing making [=FedEx=] deliveries to a crowded LA marketplace without being recognised. He also underwent extensive martial arts and weapons training including shooting with live ammunition and how to perform the famous [[BoomHeadshot Mozambique Drill]].
* ShutUpHannibal: Max does this to Vincent when he [[spoiler:crashes his cab.]]

* {{Cameo}}: Jason Statham's character from TheTransporter pops up to deliver the workups on Vincent's targets.

Enter Vincent (TomCruise). He is the [[YinYangClash chaotic counterpart]] to Max's carefully structured world. A jazz aficionado, he preaches Darwinism and improvisation. He's jaded by the city, hates the overpopulation and the filth. Oh yeah, and he also happens to be a hitman for a private military company. And for one night, they find themselves inescapably bound together.

This MichaelMann movie features Tom Cruise in his most [[ProfessionalKiller chillingly evil villain]] role since [[InterviewWithTheVampire Lestat de Lioncourt]]. It also featured a {{Cameo}} by Jason Statham in his role as ''TheTransporter''.

* DyeingForYourArt: Tom Cruise went gray to play Vincent

* PlayingAgainstType: TomCruise in only his [[InterviewWithTheVampire second]] ''villain'' role.

* [[spoiler:AlasPoorVillain: Vincent himself at the end.]]

* DeadpanSnarker: Vincent.

** Also, Detective Fanning:

* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: When meeting Max, posing as Vincent, Felix greets him with the words "I thought you'd be taller".
** This is even more hilarious if you remember that Tom Cruise's Vincent would be 5'7 to Foxx's 5'9.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Max, impersonating Vincent, threatens to take the gun away from Felix's henchman behind him and beat him with it. He does something very similar with a cop later.]]

*** Early on, Vincent complains about how much he hates LA, and how impersonal and disconnected everyone is, to the point that [[spoiler:he heard a story about a man who died on the MTA and went unnoticed for six hours before anyone realized he was dead. At the end of the film, he dies, alone on a train car, sitting upright and well-dressed, in the wee hours of the morning... where no one is likely to find him for hours.]]

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Max ends up killing Vincent with the latter's own USP45.]]

* IronicEcho: Vincent's reliance on the efficient [[BoomHeadshot Mozambique Drill]] killing tactic [[spoiler:allows Max to best him in a blind gunfight through a subway door with two windows and a solid metal center.]]
** Also, Vincent asks Max how long he's been doing the job, and if he gets any benefits. Max asks him the exact same thing, in reverse order, when [[spoiler:he's about to impersonate Vincent.]]

* LastWords: [[spoiler:"Hey, Max, a guy gets on the MTA here in LA and dies. Think anybody will notice?"]]
** Also works as a MeaningfulEcho[=/=]IronicEcho to an anecdote Vincent relates earlier in the film.

* [[MeleeATrois Melee A Quatre]]: In the nightclub during the fourth hit: Max and Vincent ([[spoiler:with Max standing in for Vincent while Vincent follows him]]) vs some mafiosos ([[spoiler:who were sent after 'Vincent' just in case the hit goes wrong]]) vs the LAPD ([[spoiler:who try to both protect the victim and locate Vincent and his supposed partner-in-crime]]) vs the victim's bodyguards ([[spoiler:who start firing at everyone with a gun]]). It helps that the room is completely cramped with panicking partygoers and the lights go on and off.

* RuleOfSymbolism: The infamous coyote scene.
** Possibly hinting at the fundamental differences between Vincent and Max. Max stops the car for a simple stray animal, one that couldn't even really be someone's pet, but nonetheless goes out of his way to not kill it, even though hitting it would have no legal consequences and wouldn't slow down the cab much, if at all. Vincent seems more confused then anything else that Max has stopped, and there's a moment of silence between them afterwords, as Vincent seems to finally pick up on what Max just said to him: he really ''is'' incapable of comprehending an individuals reasons for doing something, as his almost awed graze at Max's head shows that he simply cannot fathom the reason behind Max's actions.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Arguably one for ''Film/{{Heat}}'' as far as mood and setting go. Both are LA centered crime stories and [[spoiler:end with the death of one of the two stars at the hands of the other]].
* StrawNihilist: Vincent

** Or you can see Vincent as an {{Ubermensch}}, he is basically giving Max a vision of what his life could be like if he didn't play it safe all the time.

* TookALevelInBadass: Max, about two thirds through the movie when he [[spoiler:has to pretend to be Vincent in front of gangster Felix. You can actually see the ''exact point'' in the film where he levels.]]
-->Max "Hey Vincent? Go [[PrecisionFStrike fuck]] yourself!
** He then takes ''another'' level or two when he [[spoiler:deliberately crashes the cab at top speed, and then when he goes to rescue the lawyer]]. Made even more moving by the fact that Max [[spoiler: turns Vincent's StrawNihilist rhetoric on its head in something between a WorldOfCardboardSpeech and a ShutUpHannibal moment just before the crash.]]

* DeconstructedTrope: The film deconstructs the "hitman as cool existential hero" trope, pointing out how sociopathic and hollow such a character would seem when seen from any point of view but his own.

* SacrificialLion:[[spoiler:Detective Fanning, the only one who believed Max's story and could have saved him.]]

* SacrificialLion: Vincent's first victim, also [[spoiler:Detective Fanning, the only one who believed Max's story and could have saved him.]]

** This is even more hilarious if you remember that Tom Cruise is, in reality, pretty short.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic?: The infamous coyote scene.
** Possibly hinting at the fundamental differences between Vincent and Max. Max stops the car for a simple stray animal, one that couldn't even really be someone's pet, but nonetheless goes out of his way to not kill it, even though hitting it would have no legal consequences and wouldn't slow down the cab much, if at all. Vincent seems more confused then anything else that Max has stopped, and there's a moment of silence between them afterwords, as Vincent seems to finally pick up on what Max just said to him: he really ''is'' incapable of comprehending an individuals reasons for doing something, as his almost awed graze at Max's head shows that he simply cannot fathom the reason behind Max's actions.

** Possibly hinting at the fundamental differences between Vincent and Max. Max stops the car for a simple stray animal, one that couldn't even really be someone's pet, but nonetheless goes out of his way to not kill it, even though hitting it would have no legal consequences and wouldn't slow down the cab much, if at all.
Vincent seems more confused then anything else that Max has stopped, and there's a moment of silence between them afterwords, as Vincent seems to finally pick up on what Max just said to him: he really ''is'' incapable of comprehending an individuals reasons for doing something, as his almost awed graze at Max's head shows that he simply cannot fathom the reason behind Max's actions.

** Possibly hinting at the fundamental differences between Vincent and Max. Max stops the car for a simple stray animal, one that couldn't even really be someone's pet, but nonetheless goes out of his way to not kill it. Vincent seems more confused then anything else that Max has stopped, and there's a moment of silence between them afterwords, as they realize how completely different from one another they are.

-->Max "Hey Vincent? Go [[PrecisionFStrike ''fuck'']] yourself!

--->Max "Hey Vincent? Go [[PrecisionFStrike ''fuck'']] yourself!

* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler: Vincent by the end of the movie.]]

* [[spoiler: AlasPoorVillain: Vincent himself at the end.]]

* TheAntiNihilist: Max evolves into one as the film progresses, in contrast to NietzscheWannabe Vincent.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Max ends up killing Vincent with the latter's own gun.]]

** He then takes ''another'' level or two when he [[spoiler:deliberately crashes the cab at top speed, and then when he goes to rescue the lawyer]]. Made even more moving by the fact that Max [[spoiler: turns Vincent's NietzscheWannabe rhetoric on its head in something between a WorldOfCardboardSpeech and a ShutUpHannibal moment just before the crash.]]

This MichaelMann movie features Tom Cruise in his most [[ProfessionalKiller chillingly evil villain]] role since [[InterviewWithTheVampire Lestat de Lioncourt]]. It also featured a {{Cameo}} by Jason Statham in his role as TheTransporter.

* NietzscheWannabe: Vincent
-->'''Vincent:''' Someday? Someday my dream will come? One night you will wake up and discover it never happened. It's all turned around on you. It never will. Suddenly you are old. Didn't happen, and it never will, because you were never going to do it anyway. You'll push it into memory and then zone out in your barco lounger, being hypnotized by daytime TV for the rest of your life. Don't you talk to me about murder. All it ever took was a down payment on a Lincoln town car. That girl,you can't even call that girl. What the fuck are you still doing driving a cab?
** Or you can see Vincent as an {{Ubermensch}}, he is basically giving Max a vision of what his life could be like if he didn't play it safe all the time.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Arguably one for Heat as far as mood and setting go. Both are LA centered crime stories and [[spoiler:end with the death of one of the two stars at the hands of the other]].

Max (Jamie Foxx) is a [[TheTaxi cabbie]] living in L.A. with big dreams of opening his own limo company and catering to rich, important clients at some point. But without the motivation to take the risk and leave his job, he's just wafting through life. He can't even find the courage to call the cute attorney who gave him her card. He's stagnant. Until he picks up one fare that will change his life.

* DeadpanSnarker: Vincent

* ShutUpHannibal: Max does this to Vincent when he [[spoiler: crashes his cab]]