Top 10 Los Angeles Based Crime Films

7. Collateral

Here we are at Michael Mann's 2005 film, an intimate crime flick which actually succeeds in doing an analysis of Los Angeles and the sprawl separating people. Tom Cruise's Vincent, the sadistic contract killer, muses on about the disconnect in Los Angeles. It justifies the killings to him. Jamie Foxx - a nominee for his work here - is Max, a helpless cabbie caught up in Vincent's plan. With that steel-gray hair, Cruise resembles an aging fox with real edge and a seeming disdain for humanity. Collateral also shows off Mann's stellar use of his deep-focus digital camera, which he would later use in Miami Vice and Public Enemies. And the deep focus shows off the empty expanses around these characters, a city of lights with no soul.