Miami Vice - movie review

Loving Micheal Mann movies is seldom difficult. If you are at all impressed by complex stories, flawed and intriguing characters and stimulating visuals then he is your guy. Afterall, he gave us (as writer and director) Last of the Mohicans, Heat, Ali, The Insider, and Collateral in the last decade. He brought us DeNiro & Pacino on the screen together. He provided us with the Oscar-nominated performances of a softened Russell Crowe and a grittier Tom Cruise. And, most notably, he is the master of - let's call it - operatic violence. So when he decided to go all George Lucas and reinterpret his TV show "Miami Vice" I was game for the experience.

In truth, I was hoping that Vice would be alot like Heat but it is more like Collateral. The use of hi-def video puts the rough touch on many of the scenes but I admit it is not my taste. Between the grainy closeups, Mann has added sparkling shots of Miami and Columbia that are travel-channel worthy. The juxtaposition is jarring but sets up the riches versus realtiy struggle for the undercover team. As well, by keeping the film away from an overall glossy shine, Mann firmly establishes that this is not the 80s Vice. Then again....

It has been a loooong time since a movie revolved around drug trafficking in this way. The storyline is vintage drug war crime. However, the point of the story is a bit murky. After a panicked call from a past informant, Crockett (Colin Farrell) & Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) end up in deep cover trying to track the source of a Colombia-based operation. With each scene the set-up gets more complicted and the undercover rabbit hole gets deeper. Crocket jumps right in getting mixed-up in an affair with the exotic Gong Li while Tubbs plays the sidelines and tries to watch his partner's back. The movie follows a number of drug exchanges that reveal a network of Aryan brotherhood criminals, Ukranian mobsters, and power-hungry Colombians. But very little appears to happen in the film as it meanders through the action without any traditional story arc to ground it. The overall feeling for the audience is of being dropped into the life of these charaters and left to figure it out as it unravels.

On the plus side, Mann offers up his trademark finesse for violence. It begins with limbs being severed by a hail of bullets and ends with a wonderfully choreographed gunfight. This is not to say that the natstiness is glorified. What man does well is put you IN the action. It is visceral and flinchingly real. When a transport truck smacks someone the tragic red smear on the highway is highlighted rather than ignored. By taking this tone Mann emphasizes the disturbing and destructive nature of undercover work. It also offers the actors a chance to partake in some excellent takedowns that had the audience in my viewing audibly impressed.

Beyond this aspect is the casting. Taking over the roles of two cheezy icons cannot be easy but Mann has assembled a great pair in Farrell and Foxx. The hotness factor of these two men is undeniable and Mann offers the ladies plenty of shower scene goodness and lingering looks. Like most Mann films the relationships are central and that trend is continued here with both the professional and personal partnerships being plot point drivers. Unfortunately, neither actor is given much to do beyond the visual. Farrell has some horrible lines that land with big thuds. Foxx is given so little to do he becomes almost inconsequential. Tood bad considering both men have proven to have depth in the past.

When the cover is lifted, Vice fits the Mann model but is a weak example. All the pieces are present but they are not constructed as solidly as past efforts. As a diversion the film is buzz-worthy but it will hardly blow your mind.