When You Play The Villain A Little Too Well...

Tom Cruise is one of the most well known "good guys" in Hollywood, but how does he fair playing the villain? Let's dive into what makes his performance as Vincent in Collateral so terrifying, and what made people doubt it initially.

All music/SFX properly licensed.

[bronzeandsteel]

I was younger when i saw collateral—maybe twelve or thirteen—and i temmeber being so scared of Vincent in the movie because i was so used to tom cruise being tom cruise in movies and all of a sudden hes playing LA Anton Chigurh. It's like seeing your favorite elementary school teacher beat someone up.

[cellamuert]

besides the whole crazy Scientologist overlord thing, he played lex grossman. that makes this man eternal

[aldibeta]

Tom Cruise had always been a good actor in antagonist role. Arguably, his first antagonist role was Lestat in Interview with the vampire and another good antagonist role he played is Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder. His intensity make him very good as an antagonist

[Enpamonhado]

Watched Collateral for the first time a few weeks ago after delaying it a couple of times, thinking it was just another dumb action movie. Boy, how I was wrong. Love it how due to its 20th birthday the film is getting a revival and finding its place among the great neo-noir films of the 21st century, like Drive and Nightcrawler (And Heat of course!). Mann is truly a genius of the genre.

[cameronwilliams]

Tom's playing a supporting role in this movie. That's balllsy in itself. Max is the main character, the one with the character arc.

[omnivorous]

I love your analysis of the character but it leaves out one dimension of it that I found the most fascinating, one that made the story and character development of Max so captivating. Vincent is Max’s mentor. He helps him to overcome his procrastination and lack of initiative. He realises Max’s talent but he also picks up on the fact that he is only talking about success, never doing the things to achieve it. Through instruction, demonstration and pushing Max outside his comfort zone he helps Max to realise his potential, get the girl, being decisive and adaptable. Max owes Vincent. Big time.

[TSTD_Punisher]

Cruise as Lestat in Interview with the Vampire is one of the best, most accurate roles from a book adaptation i've ever seen. He might be a sociopath but he's a damn good actor

[Potato_Bug]

The only problem with this video, is it’s not hours long… your voice, your thoughts, the visuals… I wish it wasn’t so short

[donkeyeh]

I've seen this film probably over 20 times and never thought of Max as Vincent's employee. But it connected the instant you mentioned how Vincent uses his emotional intelligence to complete his hits. If Vincent wasn't an assassin, he'd 100% be a CEO.

[tylero]

I saw Collateral in the theatre. I was blown away. It was not what I expected. It's one of my favorite films.

[Michael-cigp]

In Plato’s Republic, when discussing the criminal, Plato notes that the criminal is the one who, “was meant for greater things, ” in that in a just society, one that pursues justice instead of wealth, the criminal is actually the one that becomes the philosopher.

Vincent is so profound because philosophers have identified men like him for thousands of years, men who possess a profound understanding of the world, but due to the societal values of their time, believe that the only thing that should be pursued is money. He’s a tragedy.

In another time, another place, Vincent was a saint.

[chriscwc]

I always thought of the movie title "collateral" to be referring to the collateral in "collateral damage", not the money at the start. The story is about Max, he is the collateral damage in Vincents job.

[nathanfyfe]

One thing not mentioned that always fascinated me in this was the scene with the wolf/fox (something), where they stop and stare. Vincent is fully lost staring. Nothing is said during or after, it just happens.

Always assumed that he saw himself as that, a lone animal but like the animal in the city it didn’t belong there. Just something that added more to why I love this film

[Pedro_Paulo_Castro]

The reptile-like coldness in his eyes is what makes this performance so compelling. It's like Tom Cruise let the mask fall for this role

[Achille]

I always thought that the "jazzy" colors of Collateral makes it even more scary, It's like watching a documentary.
Tom Cruise is one bad-ass actor who we all love and appreciate.

[yeee]

can't believe this film is 20 years old. time absolutely flies. Great essay. I wish Tom did more roles like this. with that said I find it admirable he cares more about entertaining audiences with amazing spectacle than appealing to the academy.

[mastermindmartialarts]

I will never tire of breakdowns of Tom Cruise's Vincent character from Collateral. Such a deep and nuanced character.

[Jonesy]

I always thought this was one of tom cruise' best roles.
i ALSO think this is when Jamie Foxx got sucked into scientology

[mitchellmurray]

Terrific review of a great film/performance. "Collateral" was perhaps the last time Cruise the actor was favoured over Cruise the movie star. He's had strong showings since - the "Mission Impossible" series, "Edge of Tomorrow", "American Made", "Top Gun: Maverick" - but none that have subverted his usual presence/tested his range quite like Vincent. I strongly believe this is Cruise's finest hour.

[di__ib]

Best way I can describe Tom's performance in Collateral, "Tom Cruise does not appear in this film". It's my favorite performance by him.