Producer director and sometimes writer, Michael Mann defies expectations in this cinematic update of “Miami Vice,” the hit hip TV series he helped mold in the eighties. The innovative rock soundtrack and exotic locales put a new look on an old genre whose style would influence a generation of cop shows to come. The unshaven look of its suave star, Don Johnson, with his pastel wardrobe also had as much impact on men’s fashion as “Annie Hall” did on women’s clothes seven years earlier.
Colin Farrel and Jamie Fox may have the same names as the iconic characters created by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas but any resemblance to their Crockett and Tubbs is tossed to the wind and reinvented in this surprisingly darker but no less ominous view of the modern criminal world they infiltrate. The TV show’s day-glo outerwear and bright pink flamingoes have no place in this contemporary neo-noir thriller.
“Miami Vice” starts on a high note with a vice bust abandoned by Crockett and Tubbs to rush to the aid of an informer in a high speed chase against the clock. Drug lords and white supremacists wreak havoc in a buy/sell hostage plot that put C and T on the trail of a mole in the FBI.. To fight an extraordinary enemy calls for extraordinary measures. The two undercover cops are given carte blanche to buy, sell, cheat, and steal within a Colombian drug ring’s stomping grounds. They wade through one complex set up after another before winning the confidence of the man at the top. But not before Crockett has time to wine and dine the organization’s exotic go-between - Isabella - played by the Grand Duchess of Chinese Cinema, Gong Li.
In a throwback to the genre’s outdated conventions - “Three Days of the Condor” (1975) comes to mind - time out is taken for the hero to bed a female protagonist. Taking the manipulative nature of both Crockett and Isabella in their sexual encounter a step further by imagining a genuine romantic connection that could undermine Crockett’s clear eyed vision of his duty is out of sync with the rest of “Miami Vice.” It undermines the movie’s credibility and gritty realism. Once the movie gets back on track, the action and suspense never let up.
In the past I’ve said ‘Michael Mann is an undisputed master of male dominated crime stories. He puts you inside the heads of his characters forcing you to identify with the distinctive motives that drive them to a psychological face off. Neither hero nor villain go unscathed in his films. Each affects the other in sometimes unimaginable, yet always believable and very human ways.’ Only the first sentence holds true for “Miami Vice.” Unlike the cop and thief in “Heat” or killer and cab driver in “Collateral,” little is revealed about the motives that drive Crockett and Tubbs. The scant time spent on Isabella’s background hardly ever rings true. The psychological depth that characterized the best in Mann’s films is sacrificed for a purity of style that relies more on imagery than character development. The only telling personal trait that defines the relationship between Crockett and Tubbs is their clipped short hand way of speaking like any other professionals who work together with a clear understanding of each other’s needs. And they never mince words when simple gestures will do.
The highlight of “Miami Vice” is a gun battle in the dark of night that is every bit as exciting and visceral as the bank robbery in “Heat” and as chaotic the night club in “Collateral” when gunshots are fired through the crowd on the dance floor. As a total entity, “Miami Vice” is not as consistent as Mann’s best films. Colin Farrel and Jamie Foxx may are all attitude as Crockett and Tubbs; but I, for one, wish more could been invested in their characters to make me really care about them. Even a second hostage scenario that mirrors that of the opening scene never quite delivers the effect I felt Mann strove for.
“Miami Vice” may not be up to par with Michael Mann’s best films, but lesser Mann is better than other crime films by lesser talents. As a no nonsense cop movie, “Miami Vice” works fine.
Copyright 2006
Below is a list I’ve used before that is worth repeating
The Best of Michael Mann
“The Insider” (1999) - Two men from two different walks of life are thrown together by fate in a struggle to reveal the truth about corporate greed and the flagrant disregard for human life that has been wrought by the tobacco industry. One must grapple with his conscience, the other with the media conglomerate that feeds him. “The Insider” is one of the most violent movies Mann has ever made even though there are no car crashes or explosions and no one is beaten, shot, or killed. Instead a man and his family are psychologically abused, emotionally raped, and pushed beyond the breaking point. At the heart of “The Insider” is the extraordinary relationship that develops between Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe), the whistle blower fired by The Brown Williamson Tobacco Company, and Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), the journalist who uncovered the story that was too hot for WCBS-TV’s 60 Minutes. This is a Great Movie!
“Heat” (1995) - Mann wrote this classic thriller with Al Pacino as the cop out to get the low key high tech thief, played by Robert DeNiro, who invades his turf. The centerpiece is one of the most violent and suspenseful bank robberies ever put on screen. It’s right up there with the classic armored car scene in Fritz Lang’s “You Only Live Once,”(1937). The personal lives of the criminals are fleshed out with particularly remarkable performances by Val Kilmer and Ashley Judd as a married couple who hope to go straight - after the big job.
“Manhunter” (1986) - The first movie to introduce Hannibal Lechter to the movies. William L. Peterson is the FBI guy who has the ability to identify with serial killers in order to catch them. Tom Noonan is downright scary as the killer from Tom Clancy’s book, The Red Dragon. Mann concentrates on the suspenseful detective work and the emotional costs on the agent and uses violence in just a few key scenes.
“The Last of the Mohicans” (1992) - At first thought you wouldn’t think that James Fennimore Cooper’s novel would be a natural for Mann, but Hawkeye has to think like his adversary, Magua, much like the cops in “Heat” and “Manhunter.” Of course it’s easy because he was raised by Chingachgook and moves easily between the worlds of the Indians and the white settlers.
“Thief” (1981) - Mann’s feature debut with James Caan as the professional thief whose personal problems affect his work. Worth a look for one of Caan’s best performances and the first inkling of a style that would later dominate Mann’s hit TV series “Miami Vice.”