Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer
Actors Jamie Foxx (left) and Colin Farrell, stars of the new crime drama film 'Miami Vice', are shown in a scene from the film in this undated publicity photograph. - REUTERS
For want of a better word, Miami Vice is an action movie, but it seems to be suffering from at least a mild form of identity crisis. Whereas The Matrix became the nerd's action movie, Miami Vice tries to be the thinking person's action flick, but with much less success than the Matrix.
Written and directed by Michael Mann, the flick stars Colin Farrell reprising the role that Don Johnson (a la pastel jacket with sleeves pushed up to the elbows) made famous, while Jamie Foxx takes over from Phillip Michael Thomas as Detective Ricardo 'Rico' Tubbs. So the trend of turning 1970s or 1980s television shows into feature films continue, and this one with a much better result than last year's dud, The Dukes of Hazzard, but then Dukes of Hazzard isn't hard to beat.
Johnson's fashion sense
Farrell fits into Johnson's fashion sense very well, though his hair did give reason for pause. Foxx is intense and commanding and the two work well together. As with the series, the characters are fashionable, the cars and boats are good-looking but they are not allowed to dominate. In this version, Sonny and Rico travel the crime belt as it connects Miami, Haiti and South America, but things get particularly hairy when the world of crime they fight against eventually collides with their personal lives.
Mann clearly takes a turn at trying to be different with the action movie genre, and his experiment is an interesting one, but it is unfortunately not successful. So, Miami Vice is an action movie with no witty dialogue, no screaming police captain, no over the top violence, no excessive explosions and no crazy stunts. The fact that those are missing does not quite work against the film, but there does not seem to be enough substance to take their place.
So, the thing that works most against this movie is the fantastic trailer that promotes it. Blame it on Jay-Z, but the trailer suggests a thoughtful but action-packed thrill ride. It is indeed thoughtful, but the thrill is yet to arrive.
Minimalist dialogue
Indeed, it takes a very minimalist approach to dialogue, though what it produces is thoughtful and always meaningful. As such, the movie tries to maximise film's visual potential. However, this also means that it is for the most part a very quiet film. Action is by no means completely absent but it is pretty slow in coming, though when it arrives it hits hard.
Mann also experiments with some camera work, by infusing
several shots that are quite blurred. Unfortunately, this quickly becomes quite annoying. Otherwise, it is visually interesting with several wide, sweeping shots.
Rather than depending on a rapidly unfolding plot, Mann takes time to give a sensitive portrayal of the two vice detectives on and off duty. He also explores the bond that exists between partners without falling back on the cliche of the buddy movie.
Overall, Miami Vice is an interesting experiment at refiguring the action/crime flick. It harks back to the days when action movies were about more than adrenalin, but even so it does not have enough impulse to sustain it, and becomes an action movie minus most of the adrenalin. As such, it falls somewhere well below awesome.
