#max durocher

[airlocksandaviaries]

So, @assignmentimprobable showed me Collateral...

[knight--error]

Alright, third rewatch of Collateral (2004) and I noticed something EPIC.

So there's writing on the window divider in the cab, right? Something about change. Actual text isn't important. What matters is COLOR and PLACEMENT.

The text behind Max on the right is pretty easy to see, green, big letters. The text in front of Vincent on the left is red and a little smaller.

Here's the thing. In EVERY shot from this direction, where we can see both characters, Vincent is ALWAYS talking from behind the red and Max is ALWAYS talking from in front of the green—except two.

Here, Vincent is coaching Max through telling off his boss. Vincent is pretending to be an attorney and defending Max from having to pay for damages to the cab out of pocket. Notice that Vincent is on the side of the green but not actually touching it; it's important to note that, while he is helping Max here, he's only doing it so the boss will stop poking at them and potentially try to bring them into the station early.

The second scene is far more telling, and, while I couldn't find any screencaps myself, I found gifs of it here on our very own Tumblr.com! Thanks to @illusivesoulgaming for making this one!

In the car on the way from El Rodeo to Fever, which is the penultimate hit and a hugely climactic scene, Vincent does something he hasn't done for the whole film: he sits directly behind Max. His face is partially obscured by those green letters. And he urges Max, in the most sincere and vulnerable fashion we've seen from him, to call Annie after this is all done.

Now, this is WHACK and unbelievably interesting in a lot of ways. First being that, if you've seen this movie before, you know that Annie is the final hit. And you know that Vincent knows this, because he saw her business card in Max's car. So it's pretty easy to interpret this as Vincent twisting the knife, enjoying some private, cruel irony, which will only come to fruition when the night is over.

But personally, I am convinced that this a brief, brief glimpse into Vincent's heart, and what he wants. He wants to lose. He wants to die that night. He wants Max to kill him so that Max can have a happy life. See, this scene comes right after Vincent forces Max to impersonate him in El Rodeo, a very critical moment of growth for Max. He comes out of the club a different man, a more capable man. And he does that by pretending he's Vincent, by stepping into Vincent's shoes. Right after that, just for a second, Vincent does the same thing. He switches to Max's side.

I am convinced that the letter placement and Vincent's position in the car is critical for understanding both scenes. Each time, Vincent is helping Max—the first time it's blatant, to set up the metaphor, but the second one is subtler. Without the first instance and a whole movie of Vincent talking only from behind the red lettering I don't think you can fully make the argument that he's actually wanting what's best for Max in the second scene, but with it, I think it's the best reading. And that's just... some brilliant set design, writing, and cinematography. Wow.

Go watch Collateral, folks. It's really good.

[assignmentimprobable]

[bangs pots and pans] come get some cabshipping food!!!

Collateral (2004) splash page :) I was enabled by @airlocksandaviaries

[kanafnwe]

world's okayest backseat driver

[androgymess]

max! wonder what he's smiling about...probably you!

[njumskull]

and why haven't you killed me yet?

[literary-mafioso]

My working backstory for Max Durocher, very Seize The Day, cobbled together with fragmented Mann commentary over the years: of mixed Black American [father's side] and Haitian immigrant [mother's side] heritage, raised middle class in Ladera Heights, high-achiever, beloved by his teachers, private school and college degree both subsidized by GATE programs/scholarship, piano lessons and high school business plan competitions… now gunning for the Black Diamond of downward mobility slopes; guilt-infested Mama's Boy of the Resentful Trauma-Bond typology; raised by a nurse and an insurance salesman with all the damage that entails; youngest of three brothers with all the Malcolm in the Middle shenanigans that entails; emotionally distant father absconded with another woman when Max was in grade school, started a second family with whom he leads an apparently happier and more prosperous life; brothers financially successful white collar go-getters, now geographically distant, largely to get away from their mother (but there is far more love among them than sibling rivalry, and his brothers are protective of him); once an in-demand child actor for television specials and commercials — Ida encouraged this and doted on him in a Munchhausen's-by-Proxy Dance Moms sort of way, with the hopes that he would break into eventual Hollywood stardom (when the dream dissolved, so too did her favor); neurotically convinced as a boy that his failure caused his mother to fall ill; was obsessed with Golden Age Hollywood as an adolescent and spends much of his downtime as an adult watching Turner Classic Movies with a newspaper in his lap; though his mother discouraged it, he spent his twenties/early thirties trying to make it as a Vegas lounge act while working a variety of odd jobs on weekdays; made some lousy "friends" and on his 34th birthday gambled away his grandmother's inheritance (which was going to be that down payment on a Town Car. He has still not told Ida about this); subsequently developed a pathological aversion to risk; has done so many crosswords in his life that he is, unbeknownst to himself in all his modesty and naiveté, a puzzle savant and walking trivia encyclopedia; the type of nerd who was picked last for gym class but didn't warrant enough attention come middle school to even be properly bullied; grandparents owned a candy store but they were never allowed to have candy in the house — Ida warned it would ruin their health. I could go on!

[lecaudal]

Round 3!

Which character best fits Tails?

Pip (Great Expectations, 1998)

Max Durocher (Collateral, 2004)

Voting ended onJan 22, 2025

Think about the character and their personality, not how perfectly they fit the setting or relationships

Also please go vote on all the other polls!