Collateral

Tom Cruise may finally be letting his natural hair color show, but that doesn't mean he can't still dominate a villainous turn as a hired gun terrorizing L.A. from the backseat of a cab. Collateral follows Vincent (Cruise)—a hit man sporting gray in his hair, ice in his veins, and a silencer in his briefcase—on an all-nighter at the office. He hitches a ride with cabbie Max (Jamie Foxx), who, for a handsome fee, agrees to drive Vincent around to close a few "real estate" deals. But when Vincent's cover gets blown on the first stop, the two find themselves stuck together for the rest of the night like a homicidal Odd Couple. As the evening wears on, the duo take in some jazz, hit up one of L.A.'s hottest clubs, and, naturally, kill a bunch of people. Cruise is clip-loads more fun to watch as a bad guy, and Foxx plays off of him well as the blue-collar cabbie, providing a number of genuinely funny moments during their bloody tear through the City of Angels. The violence is startling and intermittent, but realistic and shocking enough to work when it ignites. There's not much more to Collateral than checking off a hit list, but that's enough to make it worth the fare.