A 2004 thriller directed by Michael Mann of "Miami Vice" fame.  Starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx (in an Academy Award-nominated performance), and Jada Pinkett Smith.  Smaller roles for Mark Ruffalo and Peter Berg.

 

Foxx plays Max, an LA cab driver who dreams of starting his own limo service.  His first fare of the night is Annie (Pinkett Smith), a federal prosecutor in town to work on a big case.  Max gets her where she's going in good time.  Whether it was the ride, the music, or Max's dreams, Annie's so impressed that she gives Max her card and says "Call me."

 

Max's next fare is Vince (Cruise), who tells Max he's in town to make some real estate deals (OK, here's a question maybe Max should have asked himself: who does real estate deals in the wee hours of the morning?) and has five stops to make during the course of the night.  Vince offers Max some extra bucks to stick with him and get him to LAX on time in the AM.

 

At the first stop, Vince goes into a building and tells Max to pull into the alley and wait.  Next thing you know, a body falls out of the building and lands on the cab.  From here on out, Vince makes Max his unwilling accomplice in all things hit-man related.

 

As Vince and Max go about their business, we learn that Vince is eliminating witnesses in the federal case against a crime boss of some sort named Felix.  Can you guess who's prosecuting the case?  Can you guess who's stop number five?

 

Overall review:  ***  OK, so it's a little predictable plot-wise.  But, there's plenty of action, and it's interesting to see Max and Vince establish a relationship, however twisted it may be.  Jamie Foxx got an Oscar nomination as "best supporting actor".  I thought Cruise was pretty good, too, even though it is a little odd to see him with gray hair.