On M List of Movie Reviews

(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)


Miami Vice (2006)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 12/16

MiamiV
12/16: I grew up watching Miami Vice during the 80's.

It was the TV show of the decade that changed everything, shedding off the 70's feel and look, especially in fashion, dialogue, and style. Since then, there had been no revival of it until Michael Mann decided to do a movie when Jamie Foxx first came to him with the idea featuring a completely different cast.

After seeing the film, my feelings have been mixed. Maybe I started out with the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas will always be Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs, respectively. They were brilliant together, and their chemistry was fantastic.

With Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx stepping in as their replacements, I was like, "Really?" Needless to say, it didn't work. I'm going to be fair and say the former (he was actually suggested by Don Johnson to replace him) isn't a bad actor. He has talent, but there's something about his personality that doesn't work. If Colin Farrell can just let go this inflexible whatever, he'll be on his way to delivering Oscar-worthy performances.

In Miami Vice, I've tolerated Colin Farrell from start to finish and think he has done a good job. He didn't overact or do anything ridiculous. Pretty much, he was subdued, restrained, and kept himself even-keeled by being cautious. Jamie Foxx, on the other hand, is atrocious and doesn't belong in the film. He has no chemistry with his co-star and is more of an afterthought. It would've never happened with Philip Michael Thomas if the movie was made in the 80's during the show's heyday. He and Don Johnson shared equal time, and their characters were treated equally in importance.

The best part, which is all Michael Mann, is the use of authentic locations. It's what makes Miami Vice overall. I was sold by it in order to accept the film, regardless of the cast change. That's why I could move forward and go with the flow, soaking in the logistics, the setup of the operation, and the players moving to their positions.

However, the story is at best implausible and at worst stupid. Why would the head honcho and his subordinates agree to meeting Sonny and Ricardo? How did they earn their respect to make it happen so quickly? What kind of cred did they have? Who could front them? Although it's a running joke of the TV series, why would Sonny and Ricardo use their real names before going undercover? During the movie and from the DVD interviews, I heard so much talk about fabricated identities, yet their real identities, especially Crockett's due to his college football playing days, would've been discovered on the internet in a matter of seconds.

The shootout, which is similar to Heat, is at once realistic and unbelievable, yet the amount of potential firepower doesn't match what should've happened. It's almost like everybody, based on their guns and the size of the ammunition, are able to slaughter the vehicles with that much gunfire which makes hiding behind them moot. At one point, Sonny ran from one point to another out in the open. Um, why? He would've been instantly killed.

Next to Jamie Foxx, Gong Li, who's 11 years Colin Farrell's senior, is the most miscast. She doesn't belong and is an Asian who happens to speak Spanish? Are you kidding me? Worse, Li has no chemistry with Colin Farrell, and their characters don't seem to be madly in love with each other. It feels more like a business transaction. How he handled her character at the end puts the film's rating in danger. The real Sonny Crockett would never done it, preferring to arrest her and have her taken away with no thought on the matter. She's a criminal, plain and simple.

Don Johnson's Sonny Crockett was a man of principle and put his job above everything including money, drugs, power, and fame because his code of conduct, as a member of the Metro-Dade Police Department, was important to him. Hence, the ending is bullshit and unlike him. With that being said, I've decided on weak rating of '7'. The technical details, the location shoots, and the cinematography (in fact, I didn't see anything that felt remotely CGI which is impressive) have worked for me. But Gong Li, Jamie Foxx, and certain story aspects are liabilities, dragging down the film.

All in all, Miami Vice is a commendable effort by Michael Mann in this day and age of CGI, but he forgot to focus on the story, most especially the dialogue despite many script rewrites, and the chemistry of the cast.