Miami Vice

Last week I was on vacation. I went a few places, which I will write more about later, but on one brutally hot day I went to see Miami Vice. I will admit the only reason I saw it was the reputation of Michael Mann, who has directed films like Heat, Last of the Mohicans and The Insider which I admired greatly. Sadly, he went way down in my book after this one.

I never watched the original TV show. Apparently the only similarity to the film and the old show are the characters' names and their occupation. The pink t-shirts and white loafers have been left behind. But still, this film is more style than substance. We begin as Crockett and Tubbs (Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx) are on some sort of stakeout of a guy with hookers. They drop that, though, when an informer calls them, troubled. They end up undercover as boat transportation for a Columbian drug cartel (that's original!) Crockett woos the wife of the kingpin, Gong Li, and of course falls in love. Tubbs doesn't do much but glower.

I really disliked this film. I was ready to walk about fifteen minutes in, but stuck it out, and I wish I had left. It was really just a standard cops and robbers shoot 'em up, without much character development. The Columbian drug lord thing has been done to death, and this film didn't offer any new insights. We know next to nothing about what makes anyone tick in this film. The style is cold and impersonal. Farrell, who has been notoriously bad in recent films, is okay, though at times his Irish accent sneaks in.