Vincent had Max park the taxicab near the building for a swift getaway. The fight got rowdy and the guy fell (unplanned). Directly onto the cab might be unlikely, but the main plot point here is that Max learns the truth. He would have figured this out no matter where the guy fell.
It's a busy night - what with all the murder.
Okay, three is a coincidence*
Lights flicker. It happens. Is this far-fetched?
Five are very low odds.*
*But here's the thing...
One of the main themes of Collateral is the philosophical idea of patterns, breaking those patterns, fate/luck, coincidences, and "rolling with it".
Max has a big problem: he keeps putting his life on hold because he can't adapt. During the course of the film, his life is put into constant jeopardy because of occurences beyond Max's control (coincidences? luck? fate?) and as the film goes on, he starts to roll with it more. His physical danger and immediate circumstances are linked to his character and what his life was and will be. When the internal character arc (needs [ie, Max must learn to let go and adapt or risk losing his life, metaphorically, by failing at his dreams]) intersect with the external, driving plot (wants [ie, Max must learn to adapt and go with the flow or risk losing his life, literally, through interactions with Vincent) that's just called great writing.
So that's why coincidences happen: it's part of the themes of the movie.
reply
share
ExTechOp (2737)
3 years ago
While I like and agree with everything Ace_Spade posted, I do NOT think it's an unreasonable coincidence that Annie shows up as the next target.
First, Max picks Vincent up at Annie's building, where presumably Vincent was scouting his last kill. If she's a target, it doesn't beggar belief that they might cross paths and even wind up with the same cab driver.
After that, it takes all night for Max to evolve and grow. So from a plotting perspective, it makes sense that Annie's the target that galvanizes him into action, just when he's about to give up.
And from an in-movie perspective, it makes sense that the prosecutor is the final target (she's not as important as the witnesses to the case against Vincent's client).
They were building up to Annie both from a dramatic, thematic perspective and from an in-movie practical perspective.
Her image on the screen is the perfect "last straw" for both Max and Vincent.
reply
share
Ace_Spade (9334)
3 years ago
Excellent points, and from a story perspective, as well as in terms of character growth, it makes 100% sense. Sometimes things make sense for characters that still are big plot holes. The Game with Michael Douglas is riddled with them. I agree with you, counter to OP, that these aren't plot holes and they aren't a problem with the film; but, they could be both essential to the character's arc and also a plot hole (if they were plot holes).
You make excellent points about the fact that the coincidences are not 1,000,000-to-1 odds: this is not impossible to imagine, especially because coincidences do happen in real life.
I really liked that you also pointed out the story/character importance, too.
I read somewhere that one of Pixar's rules of writing is that a coincidence (or "(un)lucky event") which helps the characters is cheating, but one that makes their lives harder or helps the villain raises tension/stakes, and will work. I think we have a classic example of that here. The "coincidence" (that makes perfect sense) of Annie being the final target makes Max's life harder because he has an emotional investment here that he didn't have with the other kills.
reply
share
TroyB (164)
3 years ago
Why the OP is complaining over coincidences is beyond me since life is so full of them.
reply
share
Ace_Spade (9334)
3 years ago
Well, yes, in this movie, I agree; generally, though, I have seen films where coincidences have made me roll my eyes. Often it's in the "helps good guys" way (in the Pixar rule I cited earlier). I do understand where a poorly-written or executed coincidence (or too many of them) would annoy me as a film viewer. But I disagree with OP that Collateral is full of poorly-written coincidences.
reply
share