5. Max Durocher (Collateral)
Max is a man who has essentially been putting off his dream of starting his own business while driving a taxi for 12 years. The energies from his various conflicting emotions clearly surge through him constantly and increasingly flicker over his face and reveal themselves at different momentsat first he is confident and together in his routine, but as the movie goes on, more of his insecurities under the surface come to light and are addressed. He brings such interesting perspective to the audience through his observations, points of view, and fears. Collateral uses Max for a great character exploration. He is a person dealing with problems many people face, but at the same time, he brings out the journey between him and Vincent. In conjunction with the other characters, setting, shots, music, and action, it makes for a very powerful movie. Collateral is small and big at the same time in more ways than one, which is a scale of filmmaking Hollywood could do well to learn from.