Every day, AlloCiné recommends a film to (re)watch on TV. Tonight: Tom Cruise in the role… of a villain!
Los Angeles. In the middle of the night, a taxi driver finds himself forced to help a mysterious hitman fulfill his contracts.
Balanced as is, this pitch could suggest that we are about to find ourselves faced with a small, harmless B series and not much more… Terrible mistake! Because this pitch is that of the excellent Collateral, one of the best action films of the 2000s, which allows us to discover, and it is unprecedented to say the least, Tom Cruise as a bad guy!
Gorgeous thriller night orchestrated by Michael Mann, the man to whom we owe the cult Heat, Collateral, released in theaters in 2004, is a little marvel of staging. A twilight, tense, breathtaking film, with a crazy atmosphere that will hook you in just a few shots… Great cinema with, therefore, a Tom Cruise as a (very convincing) nasty, implacable and impassive character!
Tom Cruise in Paris: it was for the Games and not for Mission Impossible 8!
“When he arrived on set, Tom didn’t behave like a star but simply like an actor”enjoy Michael Mann. “Conscientious, he arrived fifteen minutes before shooting his scenes. What he likes is the work, the concentration. He invests 100% in each of his scenes.”
Change of look for Tom Cruise
To play his hitman character, Tom Cruise changed his physical appearance, with silver hair and a growing beard. He also trained with Mick Gould, former member of an English special intervention unit, already hired by Michael Mann as technical advisor on Heat. At his side, the actor learned to kill a man with his bare hands, with a knife and a gun, and to identify places to escape as quickly as possible.
Gorgeous thriller which undoubtedly offers Tom Cruise one of his finest performances (we won’t forget Jamie Foxx, excellent too!), Collateral is therefore to be enjoyed quickly on Arte. Note, the icing on this gem of a thriller, the furtive appearance of a certain… Jason Statham. How to resist ?
Tonight on Arte at 9 p.m.
False Connection: Tom Cruise’s gaffes and errors