COLLATERAL — ** 1/2 — Jamie Foxx, Tom Cruise, Jada Pinkett Smith; rated R (violence, profanity, gore, vulgarity, brief drugs).

The opening 15 or so minutes of "Collateral" establishes a tone that is somewhat gentler and certainly jazzier than the film's eventual direction.

In fact, it's deliberate misdirection on the part of filmmaker Michael Mann, who is clearly trying to throw the audience a bit off course. Ironically, he might have been better off keeping that tone for the entire film, because that's when it's most effective.

And it would make sense, because this thriller really has a lot in common with the French new-wave crime thrillers of the '50s and '60s, which definitely had a jazzy feel.

As it is, "Collateral" becomes a little scuzzier and grittier than that, which makes it a little difficult to get into.

Still, it does have its moments. And it also has one Jamie Foxx's better performances.

Foxx plays Max Durocher, a veteran Los Angeles taxi driver who tells his fares that the job is just "temporary." But Max is about to have the strangest night of his 12-year cabbie career.

First, he sort of hits it off with a prosecutor (Jada Pinkett Smith) who is working on a high-profile case. Then, he has the misfortune of picking up Vincent (Tom Cruise), a fortysomething businessman who turns out to be a hit man. And he wants to use Max's taxi to go from assignment to assignment.

Needless to say, Max is hesitant to get involved. But Vincent has him at gunpoint, which means he's at a killer's mercy. His only hope is that the pack of FBI agents and cops who are just beginning to notice the trail of bodies left in Vincent's wake will catch up with him.

As with all of director Michael Mann's films, this one is full of stylish flourish. Which is probably not right for this material. But at least he keeps this film from getting too bloated — at a little more than two hours, this is almost short by his usual standards.

And he's fortunate to have Foxx, who's pretty solid as Max, a man full of big talk. His eventual transformation into a man of action may not be entirely believable, but he's certainly more convincing than Cruise.

Wearing gray hair and facial stubble to render him more "unrecognizable," Cruise puts forth an effort. But belief in his character fades as he becomes more glib. Mann and the screenwriters would have been better off making him a silent killer in the Alain Delon mold.

"Collateral" is rated R for strong scenes of action violence (shootings, a stabbing and some vehicular violence), occasional use of strong sexual profanity and some crude slang terms, gore, and brief drug content (discussion of drug trade and use). Running time: 127 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com