Miami Vice (2006) - Film Review
Mann, Foxx and Farrell Fail to Thrill in this Crime Thriller
Fans of Don Johnson, Phillip Michael Thomas and the eighties-defining crime drama, Miami Vice (NBC, 1984-1989), beware. Director Michael Mann's (Public Enemies, Collateral, Ali, Last of the Mohicans) film adaptation of the classic television show eliminates all that was endearing about the show save for Sonny Crockett's five o'clock shadow and the detectives' outlandish ability to obtain funding for expensive rides. Trying to establish itself as a serious crime drama fit for modern audiences, Mann's Miami Vice is all bore and no substance.
The movie begins with James "Sonny" Crockett (Colin Farrell), Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) and the rest of their vice squad staking out a villain whom they neither catch nor see again. Thus begins the movie's frustrating trend of failing to tie up loose ends. The scene is designed to introduce the characters - Crockett as a moustached playboy and Tubbs as an all-business finger breaker. Unfortunately, such are the limits to these one dimensional characters, the actors failing to breathe any depth or personality into their roles.
Foxx and Farrell's Stale Acting Can't Liven Up the Dead Plot of Miami Vice
The scene then poorly segways into the main plot. Tubbs receives a frantic call from informant Alonzo Stevens (John Hawkes). Stevens, also an informant for the FBI, is in danger. Speeding along the highway, the detectives intercept Stevens and anti-climatically pull him over.
From here, the plot is inane yet formulaic. Apparently, through threatening Stevens, a Columbian drug lord has discovered that Russian co-conspirators are actually FBI agents. Like any good drug lord would, the mystery Columbian hires white supremacists to assassinate the FBI agents and Stevens' wife. Learning of his wife's death from Crockett while still on the roadside, a distraught Stevens jumps in front of an eighteen wheeler.
With a leak inside its operation, the FBI, through agent John Fujima (Ciaran Hinds), enlists Crockett and Tubbs to take on the drug lord. Through some completely unbelievable and unimpressive trickery, Crockett and Tubbs pose as drug traffickers and arrange a meeting with the cartel. They meet with maniacal Jose Yero (John Ortiz), Arcangel de Jesus Montoya's (Luis Tosar) right-hand man. They easily infiltrate the organization, eventually kill Yero and the Neo-Nazis, and save the day. Montoya lives, probably in the event of a sequel.
Michael Mann's Writing and Directing Incorporate Too Much "Crock" in His "Crockett"
Amidst sparse and unoriginal action, Crockett manages to fall quickly in love with Isabella (Gong Li), Montoya's Asian (yes, Asian) advisor and apparent love slave. Likely intended to bring intrigue and moral turmoil to Crockett's character (as well as an additional sex scene), the relationship seems forced, unrealistic and adds little to the film.
Tubbs is also romantically entangled. His love interest is the beautiful Trudy Joplin (Naomie Harris), another vice detective. Their relationship exists at the start of the film and goes through little felt hardship or heartache from the viewer's perspective, despite the fact that an explosion nearly kills her.
In sum, Miami Vice is trite, poorly written with unmemorable dialogue, and, at times, completely non-understandable. The characters are robotic, seemingly having no purpose save for their singular defining traits. Vice lacks any emotion, originality or eye appeal. Its action falls flat and its drama is not dramatic.
In creating a movie that is as lifeless and uninteresting as a CW sitcom, should Mann be faulted for completely revamping a television classic he himself helped to create? Yes, if that new creation destroys the endearing campiness with which the original franchise captivated a generation, only to replace it with two plus hours of garbage.
Let's hope the A-Team movie doesn't make the same mistakes.
Miami Vice movie poster
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