Sunday, July 30, 2006
Movie Reviews: MIAMI VICE
In theaters
MIAMI VICE
From movies.com
Miami cop Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) lives with Bronx-born intelligence analyst Trudy (Naomie Harris), and they work undercover transporting drug loads into South Florida to identify a group responsible for three murders. Meanwhile, Sonny Crockett (Colin Farrell) goes undercover working with the supplier of the South Florida group and gets romantically entangled with Isabella (Gong Li), the Chinese-Cuban wife of an arms and drugs trafficker. Soon it's tough to figure out who's on the right side of the law.
Cast Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell, Gong Li, Naomie Harris
Director(s) Michael Mann
Writer(s) Michael Mann
Status In theaters (wide)
Genre(s) Action/Adventure, Action, Cops, Police, Drama (General), Drug Dealers, 1980s, Weapons
Release Date July 28, 2006
Running Time 135 minutes
MPAA Rating R - for strong violence, language and some sexual content.
Review:
Michaels Manns redux of his original creation Miami Vice is a deliberately paced very serious crime drama. Those coming into this movie expecting either a wink or a nod to the old 80s show or an action extravaganza will be sorely disappointed. Mann takes his time un-spooling this film on screen. There are only a few action sequences in this film. Mann deliberately holds the reins back on the action so that when they do happen they carry that much more weight and resonance. The gritty digital look, similar to the style Mann employed in Collateral, is back with the same level of effectiveness. This visual style creates a sense immersion, placing you in the middle of the action; one large gun battle at the end of movies really excels mostly due to the visual style. Collin Farrell and Jamie Fox just exude cool through out the movie, Fox in particular is very impressive but gets a little short changed in terms of screen time. Gong Li does a fairly serviceable job in her role as Farrells love interest even if her actions, at times, stretch credibility. If this movie has a flaw its the love interest plot line. At times the entire Farrell/Li plot line seems more shoe horned into the story as opposed to being an organic creation. Some of their scenes in the middle of the movie just bring the already slow proceedings to a grinding halt. Miami Vice will probably not be for everyone, mainly because the pace is very methodical and slow but if you are willing to stay with the film youll be rewarded with a very satisfying experience.
B+
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