Hello everyone
Last month I talked about developing a nugget of an idea into something more substantial.
I had the notion of a translator who overhears a conversation not intended for his ears, and as a result he gets caught up in something he wasn’t expecting. Once caught, he is forced to make decisions he might not normally choose to make.
This got me thinking: what makes a good person do bad things? How does an innocent get turned into a co-conspirator? There’s a great example of this in the 2004 movie Collateral.
In case you’re worried about spoilers (for a 21-year-old movie), this email only goes a little beyond what you can see in the trailer. There’s nothing you won’t encounter in the first twenty-ish minutes, and I’m only looking at the elements that drag us into the story.
Collateral
Collateral is a noirish thriller. The premise:
a cab driver finds himself driving a contract killer from one hit to another
Collateral stars Tom Cruise as the murderous Vincent, with Jamie Foxx as the mild-mannered cab driver, Max. Both actors are playing against type—indeed, this is the only movie where Cruise plays an out-and-out irredeemable criminal.
It was directed (and produced) by Michael Mann (Heat, Miami Vice) and displays his typical strong visual style, which is even more pronounced for having the entirety of the action set over the course of a single night.
While the movie came out in 2004, it doesn’t look dated. There are cabs—rather than Ubers—and the occasional use of landlines, but otherwise, there’s nothing to suggest the film was made over 20 years ago.
Vincent
Max, the cab driver, may have had his suspicions about Vincent. However, he doesn’t have any real hint about what he’s getting into until a dead body falls on his cab.
When Vincent reappears, Max challenges him about the dead body: “You killed him?”
Vincent replies:
No, I shot him. Bullets and the fall killed him.
A fun line, but not the most original line (even twenty-something years ago). And while this line could be interpreted as being a discussion about semantics, these few words tell Max about Vincent’s disconnection from any responsibility. Max can have no doubt that he is driving a psychopath.
What Turns Max?
Max and Vincent are both loners. Vincent quickly recognizes this in Max, and realizes that Max could be useful to him. Seeing vulnerability in the other man, Vincent slowly and subtly brings Max into his web and then persuades Max to help him to act against Max’s own self interest.
Vincent’s first step is to form a human bond with Max. Vincent is charming and engaging—he treats Max and an equal.
Having established a rapport, Vincent then offers Max money. Vincent offers to pay Max $600—twice what Max might expect to earn—to drive him for the night. The payment is against regulations, and Max knows that. However, it’s a trivial infraction with no victim, and Max could do with the money, so he accepts.
And by accepting the money, Max actively chooses to take his first step into Vincent’s world. He hasn’t decided to involve himself in criminality—he doesn’t know there’s criminality afoot—but he has stepped away from being blameless and knows he’s dealing with a man who will encourage another man to break the law.
Removing All Doubt
Having taken the first half of the payment—the second half is due at the end of the evening—Max is relaxed. He thinks he understands what the task is: all he has to do is drive.
But then that dead body falls on Max’s cab.
With Vincent’s admission (even if not a straightforward admission) that he was involved in the death, Max understands that he is connected with criminal activity. There is no ambiguity: Max knows he is dealing with a bad person doing bad things.
While Max’s instinct is to run, he stays because he is threatened by Vincent—Vincent points a gun at Max. Max is then forced to help Vincent put the body into the trunk/boot of the cab, thereby making Max a co-conspirator.
The Choice
With the dead body hidden in the back of the cab, Max is pulled over by the police.
And here, Max has a binary choice:
- he can come clean to the police, alert them to the dead body, and try to talk his way out of the situation (or accept punishment for his part in the crime), or
- he can side with Vincent and hope that the police don’t check out the car.
Max chooses the latter option, in other words, he sides with the criminal and the criminal action. It’s a clear choice on Max’s part: when he had the opportunity to do the right thing, Max chose to do the wrong thing.
And once he makes this choice, Max is fully in Vincent’s world with no hope of escape. He has gone from innocent, to co-conspirator.
Only the Start
What I’ve covered so far isn’t the story—it’s just the start. Having got himself in trouble, the story is about the decisions that Max then takes. You’ll have to watch the movie to find what happens next!
Until August
The first decision—to take the payment in return for agreeing to work for Vincent—was a small decision. But that fissure in Max’s moral principles was then cracked wide open by Vincent and Max was left with few options.
Collateral is a good movie—Rotten Tomatoes reviewers rate it at 85%. It’s well worth a watch (it’s currently on Netflix and is available to rent/purchase on many other platforms). And if you’re not sure whether it’s your sort of thing, you can find the trailer, here.
I’ll be back in August. Until then.
All the best
Simon