Vincent (Collateral)
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| Vincent | |
|---|---|
 Vincent sitting in Max's taxi |
|
| First appearance | Collateral |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Hitman |
| Portrayed by | Tom Cruise |
| Created by | Michael Mann |
Vincent is a fictional character, played by Tom Cruise, in Michael Mann's 2004 film Collateral.
[edit] Role in the film
Vincent is a hired assassin sent to Los Angeles to eliminate five witnesses in an unspecified criminal case. He is first seen as he arrives in LAX where he acquires a briefcase, presumably from a contact in some way connected to his clients. Vincent later emerges from the Justice Department building (where it can be assumed he acquired a security swipe pass from an anonymous inside source) and searches for a taxi, finding his ride with cabdriver Max (played by Jamie Foxx), whom he promptly orders to drive into downtown Los Angeles. He claims to be a real estate broker in town to close a deal. When Max delivers Vincent to his location in a timely manner, Vincent offers the cabbie a proposition: to let him rent the cab all night and make five stops. Though Max is hestitant at first, he agrees when Vincent offers him $600 dollars to be his hired cab for the night, and another $100 to get him to his plane. During the first stop, however, when Vincent tells Max to meet him in the alley behind the building, his true plans are revealed when a bullet-ridden corpse crashes down atop the cab, with Max still inside.
His cover-story blown, Vincent draws his pistol and makes it painfully clear to Max that he will remain his driver for the duration of the evening. Seeing no alternative, a terrified Max agrees to continue, fearing for his life. Over the course of the night, Max shuttles Vincent to the address of each successive target, thereby endangering his life and getting him more involved with every murder. Vincent even forces Max to negotiate with Felix, the kingpin connected to the Colombians that ordered the assassinations. It all comes to a head when Max learns that Vincent's last target is the assistant District Attorney (Max's love interest) he drove across town earlier in the film. Following an intense foot chase a terrified Max manages to fatally wound Vincent in a climactic barrage of gunfire.
[edit] Personality
During the film, little is learned of Vincent's past or personal life. Though much may be inferred through Vincent's actions and extraordinary skills he displays throughout the film, very little is explicitly stated. The audience and Max are in much the same position, only learning about Vincent what he chooses to tell the cabdriver. The one piece of information given about Vincent's personal life is an off-the-cuff remark about an abusive, alcoholic father; even then, however, he could be lying. One hint as to Vincent's life before that night is given mid-way through the film; an FBI Special Agent informs two LAPD Narcotics Detectives that Colombian drug cartels routinely hire out ex-Special Forces, Stasi, and KGB agents as contract killers.
At some point during his life, Vincent acquired the skills of an efficient professional killer. Though neither the audience nor any character in the film learns how Vincent became an assassin, it's obvious he has incredible skill and is a thoroughly dangerous man. Vincent displays formidable close quarters combat abilities, blinding speed and impressive coordination. His actions appear instinctive, his movements economical and swift. The only information he gives regarding his career experience is his admission to Max, "six years private sector".
Vincent is a man of action, thriving on spontaneity, constant change, and improvisation. This facet of his personality is a major theme of the movie. Mann has said that the most important theme of the film deals with the clash of ideals between Max's meticulous, ordered life and Vincent's unplanned, amoral lifestyle. Vincent's reverence for improvisation is displayed in the numerous conversations and arguments he has with Max, in which he expresses such mantras as "shit happens" and "you gotta roll with it" as words to live by. By the end of the film, Vincent's embrace of the moment at the expense of all else teaches Max to take more chances with his life, even as his captor would kill him at any given moment once he outlived his usefulness.
Mann explains in the "making of" featurette that Vincent's character grew up in the slums of Gary, Indiana and that his mother died in childbirth. Mann suggests in both the featurette and commentary that Vincent is gradually falling apart over the course of the night, and that his odd (almost brotherly) relationship with Max is causing him to reflect on the demons of his troubled childhood and playing havoc on his psyche.
