Directed by Michael Mann
RATING: **1/2
Miami undercover cops Sonny Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) are forced to go deep undercover as drug dealers to force a Colombian drug baron out into the open. Things get complicated when Crockett falls for the drug baron's wife (Gong Li)...
'Miami Vice' (created by Anthony Yerkovich) ran from 1984 to 1989, and it's mix of designer suits, pastel colors, moody soundtrack and Don Johnson's designer stubble caught hold of the zeitgeist and was a huge success. Unfortunately, anyone wishing to view the origins of this feature-film update, written and directed by the show's executive producer - Michael Mann - would be best advised to simply not do so. It has dated, is hopelessly sentimental and self-conscious, and stars Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas had no chemistry together.
So...the question has to be asked. Why remake it?
Many people may not know that Mann's crime saga (and masterpiece) HEAT (1995) was a reworking of a TV film (and also a proposed pilot for a stillborn TV series) he wrote and directed in 1989 that was called L.A. TAKEDOWN. Another masterpiece of his (he has made a few) - 1986's MANHUNTER (the first film to feature the Hannibal Lecter character, and based on the same novel as Brett Ratner's RED DRAGON, 2002) - followed an episode of 'Miami Vice' that had Johnson on the trail of a psychopath. Apparently, this film has it's roots itself in two episodes of Mann's short-lived Tom Sizemore-starring TV series 'Robbery Homicide Division' (namely episodes 8 and 9 - 'Wild Ride' and 'Life is Dust'). This is all according to a post on the DVD Times website by 'Royster', who also claims that 'whole snatches of dialogue and scenes were lifted and reshaped and refined'. The admittedly long-winded point I am trying to make is that Mann has a history of taking his previous TV work and expanding ideas into feature-length films.
The film was set in motion by two-times collaborator (ALI, 2001; COLLATERAL, 2004) Jamie Foxx's suggestion that Mann should make a feature-length 'Vice'. Mann probably guessed that Oscar-winner (RAY, 2004) Foxx in the picture, the name recognition of the title (which oddly doesn't appear in the non-existent opening credits), almost surefire strong box-office and a chance to update the TV show into his own milieu, concerns (men tied to their professions above anything else, the natures of identity and duality) and motifs (at one point Colin Farrell looks out to the sea like William Petersen in MANHUNTER and Robert de Niro in HEAT) was highly alluring.
As a Mann fan (I consider MANHUNTER, 1992's THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, HEAT and 1999's THE INSIDER to be some of the greatest films of the last twenty years) it grieves me to admit that MIAMI VICE is his worse film by far and simply not worthy of him. The film will not please fans of the TV show - Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson replaced by Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas repalced by Jamie Foxx) are completely different characters (and considerably less snazzy or stylishly groomed and dressed). They are humorless, and only have a bond because they say they do. Farrell and Foxx have no chemistry together, just like the TV show. They are boring characters. The depth of the characters in the TV show was supplied by pouting and rock songs on the soundtrack. Unbelievably, it is the same here. The film is shot on digital film, which admittedly brings immediacy and a documentary feel to some of the scenes, but it is at odds with the 'B' movie nature of the material. It also serves to drain the film of any color or pizzazz - which the film needs. In a 2 hour film, there is little action, and what there is simply riffs on Mann's amazing street shootout in HEAT. So, the film will also displease action fans who have been sold a BAD BOYS III in the trailers.
The story is predictable. We know Crockett and Tubbs will run into problems with the bad guys. We know Farrell will fall in love with the bad guy's girl because Farrell has a reputation with the ladies and why else would sexy Gong Li (MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, 2005) be in the film? The otherwise pointless sex scenes with Foxx and Naomie Harris obviously mean Harris will get kidnapped. Or something. There are no guilty pleasures to be had guessing these things because Mann believes 100% that MIAMI VICE is more than an action film. It is supposed to be about SOMETHING. But what? These are cardboard characters and having Farrell and Li jump each other's bones two or three times does not equal a believably doomed love affair. Why are they attracted to each other? And why is Li's character presented as some sort of victim? The film unfortunately duplicates the cheesy melodramatic nature of the TV series.
All in all, MIAMI VICE is as unbelievable, but a hell of a lot less entertaining than the similarly-themed BAD BOYS II (2003). Wafer-thin and unconvincing characters, a slow pace, an inappropriately arty look (the film was shot by COLLATERAL's Dion Beebe), a dated soundtrack (Moby and a Phil Collins cover do not make this a hip flick) and TV-movie style action all contribute towards a complete artistic misfire from a genius director, who admittedly had his last remarkable film in 1999 with THE INSIDER. The only thing the film has to offer are some beautiful aerial shots, some tense scenes (for example, the rescuing of Harris's character) and some disturbing and all too real violence. And of course the enigmatically beautiful Gong Li.
Around 100 people apparently left the crew of this film, allegedly because of Mann's unrelenting perfectionism and decision to film in dangerous areas (such as the worst crime area of The Dominican Republic) and allegedly unsafe weather conditions. (The production offices were also destroyed during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Also 'collateral' was one of Crockett's pet turtles. The other one was never found. They now don't appear in the film.) This paints a picture of a dedicated film-maker who won't give up until he has his vision burned onto celluloid. The fact that such efforts produced MIAMI VICE is worrying. After the disappointing (but still very good) COLLATERAL, it is clear Mann needs to steer away from crime movies until he has something original and unique to offer. Because for all he might disagree, MIAMI VICE is a million miles away from the quality of HEAT - which should have been a companion piece to this film (the undercover cops share many characteristics with the criminals in HEAT - complete loyalty and fearlessness, anti-authoritarianism, emotion despite their stoic exteriors, restlessness...).
And to top it all, Crockett's pet alligator doesn't even appear.
TRIVIA - The film has done disappointing business in the US, possibly because of poor word of mouth. Plans for a sequel may be scrapped. By all accounts, the film was a difficult shoot. Jamie Foxx demanded a higher salary after his oscar win for RAY - Farrell had to take a pay cut to make it happen. Foxx also wanted top billing but he didn't get it. He allegedly wouldn't film any scenes on boats or planes, derspite his character's status as an ace pilot. He also allegedly wouldn't fly commercially, so a private jet was laid on. After a real shooting occured on set in The Dominican Republic, Foxx flew back to the US and told the studio he wouldn't return to The Dominican Republic. So Mann's apparently superior climax to be filmed in the country was scrapped and redone in Miami. Chinese actress Gong Li reportedly had problems with her English and Spanish. And Farrell, in the early part of the shoot, herniated two discs in his back during a weightlifting session when his rib broke away from his sternum. A few weeks after the shoot, he checked into a rehab facility. The film cost around $135 - 150m to make.
MIAMI VICE will be available on DVD in November.
Edited by manfromjapan, 19 October 2006 - 11:44 AM.
