"Miami" - Not So Nice by Homer Yen (c) 2006
I think about all of the skills that one must have to be on the Miami Vice. You have to be prepared for gun battles. You have to be able to tough-talk your way in and out of every situation with guns pointed at you. The toughest skill that they've acquired, apparently, is there ability to work seemingly 20-hour shifts every day nonstop. They don't even have time to eat or go to the bathroom. Who would want to be in this kind of line of work and, more importantly, why? It's bullets for breakfast and high-speed chases for lunch. Let's hope that they make it to dinner.
Sure, being able to drive a speedboat into Havana for a date might be cool. And racing around in an exotic sports car has its allure. But to do this kind of work, you have to really love it (or be psychologically twisted). Understanding the motivation of detectives Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) would be helpful because the "its-a-job-and-somebody-has-got-to-do-it" explanation mutes a potentially high-powered drama. It's like taking a high-powered rifle and just firing it straight into the air. You hear the noise, but there's no result.
Though visually arresting, Writer/Director Michael Mann has missed something here. The characters were better-fleshed out in two of his other notable crime dramas. That would be 2004's sublime "Collateral" and 1995's must-see "Heat". Those were much grittier and absorbing. Here, the partnership of our protagonists can be likened to foxhole buddies thrown together. They watch each other's back. They play for the same team. But they don't interact. I'm thinking about how "Bad Boys" was such a bad film. Yet, at least Will Smith and Martin Lawrence got opportunities to yuk it up. These two never smile and make the film an experience that is morose.
The story itself is confusing. In fact, the opening sequence is about a stakeout in a Miami nightclub. But then it abruptly turns into an espionage mission to infiltrate a Colombian drug cartel. Much of the film is just a lot of people doing a lot of posturing. Crockett stares down his supervisors so that he can get in deeper. Tubbs stares down Crockett to remind him not to get too deep. Various cartel people stare down each other trying to persuade each other on different courses of action. But all is not lost because there are a few bang-bang surprises. If nothing else, if there was an MTV movie award for best 'kill-shot in a film', this movie would win.
The real challenge, though, is the tone of the film. It is so sullen that the monotone delivery of their lines gets kind of aggravating. In fact, at some points, it seems more like mumbling. "Miami Vice" is about tough guys doing tough work. They may not care that they're not having fun. But that shouldn't be the fate of the audience.
Grade: C
S: 2 out of 3 L: 3 out of 3 V: 3 out of 3
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