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Max (Foxx) is a cab driver in Los Angeles just biding time until he can start his own business. On one fateful night, he picks up a young prosecutor (Pinkett Smith) and delivers her downtown, sparking a flirty conversation along the way. Then he picks up Vincent (Cruise), who guides Max to five stops through the night on the way to the airport. But at the first one, it becomes more than a little obvious that Vincent is a hitman with five people to kill. And now Max can't get out of it.

Sleek and seductive, Mann orchestrates the film to draw us into Max's predicament, and Foxx is superb. As our minds whirl for a solution to this predicament, Max is one step ahead of us, desperately and inventively seeking a way out. But Vincent always cuts him off--and Cruise gives the role a steely relentlessness that recalls, oddly, The Terminator. His too-tight suit restricts his movements, while his too-grey hair looks like a wizened-human disguise. Together Foxx and Cruise are terrific simply because they balance each other so well--heart and soul versus heartless soullessness.

The supporting cast is good but only there to nudge the plot along, so Mann uses Los Angeles brilliantly as a third character, carefully maintaining its geographic integrity with floating camera work, moody editing and inventive set pieces. The hypnotic tone is deeply involving, and it's not until later that you realise all the standard action movie cliches are present--ruthless mastermind (Bardem), tenacious cops (Ruffalo and Berg), sweet ol' mom (Hall), woman in peril (Pinkett Smith, of course, in the end), and a message that only appears to be deep. But Beattie and Mann throw us off the scent with an unconventional structure and seductive filmmaking that go against most of what Hollywood throws at us. The result is a breath of fresh air on the screen--profoundly enjoyable but not very filling.