`COLLATERAL' SHOOTS, SCORES IN L.A.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

A PERFECTIONIST himself, Michael Mann has always had a fascination with pro's pros, people who go about their jobs with a methodical sense of precision. In his hauntingly good, surprisingly funny slam-bang thriller ``Collateral,'' Mann has a couple of these guys at his disposal, and they hail from opposite ends of the food chain. The relationship between these two men provides the film with a fascinating tension, which raises the movie from its genre roots into something truly special.

We first meet Max (Jamie Foxx), an L.A. cabdriver who keeps his car immaculate and tells his fares exactly how long it will take to get them from point A to point B anywhere in Los Angeles County. This professionalism, along with his keen observational powers, is enough to impress a U.S. attorney (Jada Pinkett Smith), who gives Max her business card after a heart-to-heart talk on the way to her downtown office building.

Max's next fare, judging from his gray, custom-made suit, perfectly coiffed salt-and-pepper hair and expensive leather carrying bag, appears to be a high-end businessman. Vincent (Tom Cruise) offers Max $600 to drive him to five different destinations - he says he's closing a real-estate deal. Five stops, five signatures and then back to LAX by 6 a.m. It seems harmless enough, and Max, who harbors long-gestating dreams of starting his own limo company, could use the cash.

But as we soon learn - and will continue to appreciate throughout the course of this mesmerizing movie - appearances can be deceptive. Vincent turns out to be a highly skilled, trained assassin in town on business, and, upon discovering this, Max has no choice but to be an accomplice. ``I can't drive you around so you can kill people,'' the cabbie complains. ``That ain't my job.'' Replies Vincent: ``Tonight it is.''

For the next eight hours or so, we follow Max's ruby red cab through the L.A. night, moving across the sprawling landscape from downtown to Pico Rivera, Koreatown, South Central and Leimert Park. It's an indelible travelogue, shot by cinematographers Dion Beebe and Paul Cameron on (for the most part) high-definition digital video, which gives this City of Dreams a hazy, hypnotic feel and creates an after-hours mood that will stay with you long after leaving the theater.

And mood is everything here. Foxx and Cruise are terrific in making their characters' game of cat and mouse seem real and alive, but the greatness of ``Collateral'' transcends their performances or the way Mann superbly stages the film's bravura gunfight scenes. (The elaborate confrontation in a crowded Pico Rivera disco involving Vincent, Max, the feds, an L.A. cop (Mark Ruffalo), Vincent's backers and Vincent's target is worth the price of admission alone.)

It's in the way Mann evokes a late-night world where anything goes, including his characters' long-held perceptions about themselves. ``You have to hold a gun to his head to do anything,'' Max's mother (the great Irma P. Hall) tells Vincent, describing her son during one of the night's many unexpected stops. Her words are funny - and prophetic - on a night full of random encounters and enormous possibility.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

COLLATERAL - Four stars

(R: violence, language)

Starring: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo.

Director: Michael Mann.

Running time: 1 hr. 59 min.

Playing: Wide release.

In a nutshell: Professionalism from opposite ends of the food chain is exhibited during a wild, after-hours ride through L.A.