Collateral review

 Number 723 on the top 1000 films of all time is Michael Mann's 2004 neo-noir crime thriller 'Collateral.'

Max (Jamie Foxx) is an LA taxi driver with a simple dream of owning a limousine business. But his life spirals out of control when he accepts Vincent's (Tom Cruise) fare. For Vincent is a hitman who is a hitman with a number of contracts to complete.

Collateral was certainly an entertaining thriller if entirely unbelievable. Despite being a contract killer, Vincent is very careless. He exposes himself when he shoots his first victim leading to him falling out of a window onto Max's cab, partially destroying it. But surely a contract killer would be more careful than this. Vincent has hired Max to drive him around for the whole night. How is he supposed to do that when his windscreen has been near-shattered?  And they go on to put the victim's body in the trunk of the car. And they drive it around the whole night. Surely, this would attract unwanted police attention which later does happen. And Vincent even tells Max off about the dangers of unwanted attention. 

And when it comes to Vincent's final target, he (spoilers) hesitates long enough for Max to come and save a day. One, a contract killer would never hesitate like this. Two, we've seen Vincent kill remorselessly before. It made no sense for Vincent to hesitate now. Finally, he is very blaise about Max knowing his true identity. Surely, it would be in his own best interests to keep this a secret. There is less chance of Max panicking and doing something stupid. But I guess this wouldn't have made a very interesting film.

Despite these plot chasms, I did enjoy Collateral. At first, I wasn't convinced by Tom Cruise. I'm so used to seeing him as a hero that it was difficult seeing him as villain, but he was pretty damn good. Jamie Foxx was also great as Max. Max is your everyman whose whole life was turned upside down. And he goes through a very satisfying character arc from burned-out taxi driver to an unlikely hero. Foxx earned his Best Supporting Actor nomination.

Sure Collateral is unbelievable rubbish, but a film doesn't always have to be 100% believable to be entertaining.

Ray review

 Number 522 on the top 1000 films of all time is the biographical musical drama 'Ray.'

Telling the real-life story of the blind R&B musician Ray Charles, Ray stars Jamie Foxx as the titular singer from his humble beginnings in rural Georgia to his touring on the Chitlin Circuit to his blending of Gospel and R&B and eventual rise to absolute superstar.

To echo Roger Ebert, it would be worth watching this just for the music alone. Ray Charles has done so many iconic songs from Hit the Road Jack to the gorgeous Georgia on My Mind. And it is the legendary Brother Ray who does all the singing in the film. Jamie Foxx didn't think he could ever do the Genius justice so elected to have all his singing dubbed. Although Jamie Foxx does play the piano, as well as the Ray Charles songs that he covered later in his career notably I got a Woman. 

But otherwise I thought Jamie Foxx was excellent as Ray Charles. He thoroughly deserved the Best Actor Oscar win for the part. He brought the legendary musician to life. At times I forgot I was watching an actor, Jamie Foxx was that convincing. The voice, the mannerisms were all completely on-point. 

Beyond that, Ray was a thoroughly interesting film. It helped to peel back the layers of such a legendary superstar. I don't know much about the singer, so it was fascinating learning about his heroin addiction that so plagued much of his life. No doubt this would have been a deeply sensitive topic, but it was treated with great sensitivity. Ray Charles was sent a braille version of the screenplay and he loved it, but sadly he died before he had a chance to attend a cinema screening. 

I've spoken about Jamie Foxx, but the rest of the cast were also very engrossing. I very much enjoyed Kerry Washington as Ray's wife Della Bea - she captured the morally conflicted wife wanting to support her tortured husband, but struggles in looking past his heroin habits.

I could have done without the expository transition slides and there could have been more distinction between Ray's various mistresses - I did get a bit mixed up at times, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed Ray. Ray Charles was a hell of a singer.