Writer-director Michael Mann redefined the TV cop show with his groundbreaking series Miami Vice, introduced moviegoers to Hannibal Lecter with 1986’s Manhunter, and even turned Will Smith into a dramatic actor with the 2001 biographical film Ali. In Collateral he has crafted an unusually gripping thriller that employs a simple premise, and by casting costars Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx against type he has defied audience expectations and thus rendered the film less predictable than it might otherwise have been. Foxx, heretofore best known for his portrayals of brash, arrogant young men, plays Max, a softspoken, intelligent underachiever driving a cab driver on the night shift in Los Angeles. One of his fares, a calm, quiet man who identifies himself as Vincent (Cruise), turns out to be a contract killer in the process of eliminating witnesses about to testify against a narco-terrorist. Mann puts viewers inside the cab with these two men, contrasting Foxx’s mounting panic (as he realizes he’s implicated in Vincent’s crimes) with Cruise’s self-assurance and resolve. A peculiar relationship develops between the two, and in between shootings Vincent becomes an almost avuncular figure to Max, dispensing advice on business and personal matters and even allowing the cabbie to make his nightly visit to his ailing mother. Irma P. Hall plays the mom, and she’s one of a handful of exceptionally fine actors Mann casts in relatively small roles. Mark Ruffalo plays an LAPD detective assigned to the first murder, Peter Berg is his partner, Bruce McGill is a by-the-book FBI agent, and Javier Bardem is Vincent’s contractor. Nominal leading lady Jada Pinkett Smith has a small but pivotal role as the federal prosecutor Max delivers to work in the film’s opening sequence. Through onscreen a relatively short time, these accomplished players add a great deal to the proceedings; by utilizing such top-flight talent, Mann achieves a dramatic texture that would have been missed had the parts been assigned to competent but less colorful supporting actors. What’s more, the conviction they bring to their roles helps dissipate the fog of incredulity that wafts through the picture; some of the situations are absurd, but you’d never know that from the way they are described or enacted by the cast. Like all Mann films, Collateral looks spectacular. Shot with high-definition video cameras instead of film, nighttime Los Angeles takes on an alluring, ethereal glow that makes the city as much a presence in this story as the actors. Even more impressive is Mann’s obvious determination to avoid the hackneyed. Collateral may be incredible, but it’s never predictable -- which is a whole lot more than you can say for most thrillers these days.