Doomsday's Andrei Tarkovsky Love Fest

Miami Vice (2006)




Miami Vice is Michael Mann's film based on his television show from the 1980s. With this update gone are the flashy suits and signature 80s flare that Mann used to full effect in his projects of that time period. Now we're into the gritty digital era of filmmaking, one lacking any humor or emotion. If you want to see some cool shootouts and boats go really fast then this movie's for you. If you want something that might give you any sense of excitement, suspense or intrigue you might want to look elsewhere.

Miami Vice stars Jamie Foxx as Ricardo Tubbs and Colin Farrell as Sonny Crockett. I had to look up the names to make sure because it was tough for me to remember just hours after finishing the movie. Mann has always walked that line of 'style over substance' and sometimes there's a great combination of both. Miami Vice is not it. It's totally devoid of any character development. It's sole focus is on these two cops who go undercover in order to infiltrate a drug ring. Sounds pretty simple right? Then why is the movie so convoluted? Throughout the movie it seemed to be almost trying to be as confusing as possible as if it made it more intelligent than it really is. At its core it's a movie where two cops go undercover until they eventually get betrayed by the guys they're trying to bring down. The movie is loaded with a ton of police jargon and terminology which usually adds to the effect of Mann's films however sometimes it can add to the confusion like it does here. It seems as if Mann wanted to make an 'adult' crime movie but someone convinced him that he can't have a clear-cut story or interesting characters, it has to play out like you know what's going on.

One thing I've always admired about Mann movies for the most part is that they eschew any tired cinematic tropes and are as realistic as possible. Sometimes this is to the detriment of any character development especially with any female characters as I stated in earlier reviews. Miami Vice drops you right into the middle of things almost assuming that you know who these characters are. The reason it's so important however is because without anyone to care about on screen the tension is flat when it's finally presented. That's Miami Vice in a nutshell. There's a lot going on and there are even a few pretty cool action sequences but it doesn't mean anything when we know and care so little about anybody. Again I want to say to Michael Mann 'just because a character has sex with someone doesn't automatically equal chemistry.' What made Collateral and Heat so fresh and energetic weren't that they had cool shootouts, it's because they were cool characters who were in cool shootouts. It didn't take a whole ton of dialogue but we knew enough about Max that we were invested. Heat is all about characters and how their lives are connected. Miami Vice is textbook style over substance, something that could have been fun had it just followed some Filmmaking 101 basics and made people that we knew.

I also have a personal gripe with Colin Farrell as Crockett. There was a time where I despised him more than just about anyone else making movies. My anger has tempered the past few years and I've seen him in some really good roles but here is one where they really should have cast something else. Jamie Foxx seems natural while you can tell Farrell is trying so, so hard. His scratchy, gruff voice is unnatural and his constant shouting of dialogue made me wonder if he even knew what the scenes were about some of the time. It's maybe the first time that I would say someone in a Michael Mann movie was really miscast.

Miami Vice is another misfire for Michael Mann. It's strange after watching his movies again that although I still consider him one of my favorite filmmakers (I plan to do this with another filmmaker after finishing Blackhat) it's becoming more obvious that he has as many mediocre films as he does great and exciting ones. The guy is in his mid-seventies and makes a movie roughly once every five years or so. Lets hope that he has one or two more good ones in him before he hangs it up. I mean look at what George Miller just did at his age.

Miami Vice may have been the worst movie of 2006.

Miami Vice is bad, but The Keep is by far Mann's worst movie. That was a painful one to get through.

Worse than Blackhat? Get the fuck out.

Blackhat is the only movie by him I haven't seen, but I would be shocked if that movie is worse than The Keep.  The Keep made no sense, was boring, and totally laughable.  I'm sure Blackhat is at least a competent movie, The Keep is a piece of shit.

That movie has a passionate following. Blackhat too.

I can't say I share that passion but it is there.

Drac's top 10 thread is gonna be a bit nuts this year.

You like Sonic? Shocker!