Some of the best TV series-to-movie makeovers occur when thefilmmakers take just the core idea and the characters of the TV showand create a world unto itself. Think 'The Fugitive.'
Some of the worst such efforts -- and there have been so many inrecent years that they haunt me in my dreams -- occur when they takeutter junk and turn it into campy, obnoxious crap. Think 'Charlie'sAngels.' 'Charlie's Angels 2.' 'The Dukes of Hazzard.' And so on.
Save for Nonpoint's update of Phil Collins' 'In the Air Tonight'over the closing credits, Michael Mann's megabudget remake of 'MiamiVice' doesn't make any winking references to the seminal piece of eyecandy from the 1980s, which was executive produced by Mann andfeatured Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas (the Man With ThreeFirst Names) as the pastel-wearing undercover police officersCrockett and Tubbs, respectively. (Thomas' ego was such that hesported a necklace that spelled out 'EGOT' -- for Emmy, Grammy, Oscarand Tony. Last I checked, he's only two consonants and two vowels shyof reaching his goal.)
While this 'Vice' isn't in the same league as Mann's 'Collateral'(2004) or 'Heat' (1995), it's a gritty, ultra-dark thriller, and itcontains two of the best 'kill shot' scenes in recent years. Mann'smovies earn their R ratings.
Colin Farrell plays Crockett and Jamie Foxx is Tubbs, and liketheir TV predecessors, they love the fast cars and the slick clothesand the speedboats and the thrill of the hunt for bad guys -- butJohnson and Thomas were a wisecracking Felix and Oscar compared tothis morose pair. When Foxx mutters, 'I hate this job' late in thestory, he's telling us something we already know.
The opening sequence plunges us neck-deep into the lives ofCrockett and Tubbs, who seem to be on duty about 22 hours a day. (Theother two hours are reserved for steamy shower scenes with theirrespective lovers.) They're on a stakeout in a Miami nightclub, butthey're pulled away when Crockett gets a call from a longtimeinformant, who's been working for the FBI as the middleman in aninsanely complicated drug deal involving everyone from South Floridawhite supremacists to ruthless Colombian crime lords to operativesworking out of Ciudad del Este, located at the point where Paraguay,Brazil and Argentina meet. (And that's a very bad place to meet.) Infact much of 'Miami Vice' takes place outside of Miami, as Crockettand Tubbs get themselves deputized by the FBI so they can go (asEddie Murphy said in 'Beverly Hills Cop') deep deep DEEP undercoverto bust up an international drug ring.
It takes Crockett about six minutes to fall in love with Isabella,a sophisticated vixen in super-tight skirts who handles the financialdetails for an international drug lord and also happens to be hisgirlfriend, though he doesn't seem to mind if she gets involved withthe clientele as long as she keeps it casual. Isabella is played byChinese superstar Gong Li, who struggles nobly -- but nonethelessstruggles -- with her English. There are times when it is nearlyimpossible to understand what she is saying.
And this 'Vice' is already plenty confusing, what with the ever-changing rules of the drug deals, and the deliberately flat and quietline readings from Farrell and Foxx, not to mention Dion Beebe'sgorgeous but dark high-definition digital cinematography, dripping indark blues and shades of gray. There were moments when I had verylittle idea of who was buying what drugs at what point from whom, andfor that matter why anyone was doing what he or she was doing.
Beyond that, who are these guys? Why did Crockett and Tubbs becomecops? For the guns? We know these guys are best friends only becausethey spell it out: 'I'm with you 100 percent.' 'I'd never doubt you.'Unlike most famous cop-buddy tandems (e.g., Gibson and Glover in the'Lethal Weapon' series), they don't seem to enjoy much of anythingabout their work or their friendship. They're tough guys doing uglywork, and that's that.
Luis Tosar's Colombian kingpin is a disposable villain whoinexplicably disappears from the final sequences. His evil right-hand man, Jose (John Ortiz), sports designer glasses and comes acrossmore like a petulant grad student than a bloodthirsty madman. Moreinteresting in lesser roles are Mann regular Barry Shabaka Henley asthe Miami police lieutenant who gives his guys a very long leash,Ciaran Hinds as an FBI liaison and Elizabeth Rodriguez as a Miami copwho has maybe the best variation yet on Dirty Harry's 'Well, do ya,punk?' speech. Her big moment actually trumps anything Farrell orFoxx do with their oversized guns.
The plot machinations of 'Miami Vice' left me confused and a bitfrustrated, yet there's 2 1/2 stars' worth of movie here simplybecause Mann is the premier visual architect of night actionsequences and because he adds a touch of art to even the simplestshots, day or night. A small plane buzzing above the clouds, overheadshots of a drug lord's compound, a dance sequence in a nightclub --all are executed with exquisite grace.
The other half-star goes to that 'Dirty Harry' tribute scene, andto say any more would be to rob you of the moment when you'll find ithard to resist the urge to actually clap in a movie theater.
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MIAMI VICE
Rating 3 out of 4
Sonny Crockett: Colin Farrell
Ricardo Tubbs: Jamie Foxx
Isabella: Gong Li
Trudy: Naomie Harris
Montoya: Luis Tosar
Fujima: Ciaran Hinds
Universal presents a film written and directed by Michael Mann.Based on the TV series created by Anthony Yerkovich. Rated R (forstrong violence, language and some sexual content). Running time: 125minutes. Opening Friday at local theaters, with midnight screeningsat selected theaters tonight.
