Collateral

Director Michael Mann's gritty urban thriller revolves around a Los Angeles cabbie (Jamie Foxx) taken hostage on his late-night rounds by charming mob hit man Tom Cruise. Mann's penchant for uniquely eclectic film scores has previously encompassed everything from the electronica-suffused world beat of Ali to the brooding, ambient post-modernism of The Insider. Here Mann effectively cobbles together an even more far-ranging musical landscape, one that echoes LA's rich multi-culturalism (the savory, nouveau Latin rhythms of Guero Canelo's "Calexico," Destino de Abril's sultry "Green Car Motel") while simultaneously paving its mean streets with a tough, urban groove. That mood is variously enhanced by producer Tom Rothrock and Antonio Pinto's alternately pulsing and brooding electronic soundscapes, the soul variations of The Roots and Groove Armada (the latter's "Hands of Time" featuring vocals by vet Richie Haven). Audioslave's "Shadows of the Sun" imparts a contemporary rock edge, while the standout "Spanish Key" from Miles Davis' fusion breakthrough Bitches Brew deliciously underscores the film's uneasy tensions. Masterfully stitching it all together are the nervy, rhythmically charged cues of composer James Newton Howard. --Jerry McCulley