dj4our Blog

Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) are two undercover detectives working the underbelly of Miami. During one of their higher-profile engagements, a colleague phones in a life-threatened warning to Crockett regarding his involvement in the exposure of several government operatives. After receiving this call, the pair learns of the government's mission, who the target is, and how they can become involved. What ensues is an offer to both Crockett and Tubbs to be yanked into a very high profile drug syndicate that spans numerous continents.

As the pair sinks further into this underworld utilizing their own resources, aliases and talents, they begin to weave into the syndicate, gain their trust, and piece together the hierarchy. This hierarchy is much larger than the streets of Miami, however. Along the way, Crockett reaches out to the enemy by growing infatuated with Isabella (Gong Li), a professionally ambivalent financier that works with the syndicate to strategize and maximize profits. The further ingrained Crockett and Tubbs edge into the operation, the more their personal lives weave into their cause. 

Mann knows how to craft one slick, stylish film. His eye for chilling cinematography, his ear for impeccably fitting audio accompaniment, and his wonderful ability to craft engaging characters set his films apart from the typical crime caper fare. Furthermore, Mann has a way with casting those quality characters with fitting actors. From Jamie Foxx's Tubbs to the fantastic work from John Ortiz as Yero (one of the dealers), each character is bestowed life through quality performances. This supporting cast was especially vibrant this time around, especially Gong Li and Naomis Harris (as Trudy Joplin). Farrell, even though a bit rough along the edges, stayed strong and fairly impressive as Crockett. Everything is here for Mann's next high-quality crime film possessing the same weight as his preceding works. I was totally disappointed in the casting of Barry Shabaka Henley as Lt. Castillo, who exuded no mystery or authority here. I did enjoy the character of Gina (Elizabeth Rodrigez) who played a crucial role in rescuing Trudy from some arian junkies. The supporting cast that excelled in their roles were good enough to carry the film yet I wanted to know more about them.

The tense performances and the slick cinematography are there but the film tends to waver away from the solid core that distinguishes Mann's talents from the rest: heart and soul. Amidst the intricate, confusing storyline, the emotional connection with the characters gets lost. Throughout the course of the film, some connections are made that really do pop out and ignite some warmth. However, they are very few and far between. Watching a Mann film is like waltzing along a high wire trapeze – the story leans heavily towards the criminal portion of a story and, just as faith feels lost, the film leans back over to a heartfelt center by connecting the viewer with the heroes OR the villain. In general, the film feels lost amidst the complicated storyline and doesn't surface enough above the plot to rejuvenate that warmth. Plus, this film is highly dialogue driven without enough action. While the tension is there, the excitement factor and the passion behind the characters are lacking.

Even through its shortcomings, "Miami Vice" is a fast-paced, stylish film that's definitely worth a watch. Mann crafts some stellar performances, a delicious pairing of visuals and score, and an interesting, albeit demanding, storyline. Staying strong during both the blindingly-fast dialogue and the demanding storyline will help the film be an enjoyable experience.

The DVD rated here is the Miami Vice Unrated Director's Edition. As Michael Mann states in his Director's Commentary, this "Director's Edition" isn't necessarily just expanded, but also re-edited and fleshed out further. As I have not seen the theatrical edition of Miami Vice, any comparisons between the two are unable to be made by me.

Special Features:

This Director's Edition of "Miami Vice" comes with some particularly interesting extras:

A Director's Commentary is included from Mann. Mann is always particularly entertaining in regards to his explanations of his films. He goes to lengths to capture the perfect mood, setting, and other aesthetical elements of his films. His commentary on Miami Vice is no different.

Miami Vice Undercover is a featurette regarding how Farrell and Foxx honed in on their undercover mind frames for the film. As with his other films, Mann demands his cast get a realistic feel on how their characters work by real-time experience. Farrell and Foxx worked with undercover cops involved with an equally high-profile scenario as in this film. The cast also accompanied a crew on a government bust. Through these elements (and a realistic prank played on Farrell involving a training exercise), the process appeared to be fairly interesting.

Miami and Beyond focuses on the locations that Michael Mann selected across the globe for Miami Vice. Some of these obscure, yet strangely beautiful locales are very interesting. From the inclimate conditions of Miami's hurricane season to the obscure locations in Uruguay, this series of places crafts a very distinctive look for the picture. The actors all are in awe at how Mann finds these locations, and Mann seems to take pride in his ability to find them.

Visualizing Miami Vice shows how Michael Mann gave this film (and his other films) such a distinct look. It's interesting to see how he meshes the scenery with artistic elements and camerawork to create such attractiveness. He discusses such elements from what guns he decides to use for the film, all the way to his work with aerial cameras and photography to grab his work.

Three other Behind The Scenes Featurettes are included – Gun Training, Haitian Hotel Camera Blocking, and Mojo Race. While the Haitian Hotel piece is mildly interesting to watch since it involves an intricate location and the actors navigating through the room, the Gun Training and Mojo Race pieces are both pretty entertaining. Gun Training shows all of the primary actors in fairly rigorous automatic weapons training. Any chance to see the actors learning a new craft is a blast. The Mojo race piece is interesting since it talks about how the crew assembled this fully functional speedboat that also integrates camerawork into the mix.

As stated before, this is not like the "Miami Vice" from the '80s. This is sleek, calculated, and extremely hard-edged in regards to the multi-layered drug associations across continents. The music is great as with all of Mann's films. there's some Audioslave, some Moby, and a okay cover of "In the Air Tonight" by Nonpoint. The characters are, for the majority, engaging, compelling, and portrayed very well from the great cast. While the plot has some coherency issues and the dialogue needs a bit of work (and annunciation), the story is still compelling enough to grasp your attention. "Miami Vice" is what it should be, an interesting trip into the world of undercover cops involved in an extremely high profile crime bust.