Miami Vice: Director’s Cut
In adapting a film version of the TV show that put his name on the map, Michael Mann certainly shows he’s got style to spare. The first 15 to 20 minutes, detailing a bust in a nightclub, contains that ultra-cool 80s vibe to it. However, as things go on, it comes out that not everything is as cool as it seems, and it comes down to the casting: Jamie Foxx is perfectly fine as Tubbs, bringing the necessary style and charisma to the part as required, but whoever thought of casting Colin Farrell as Sonny Crockett should really have their head examined. Whereas Don Johnson was the 80s ideal of a man’s man in pastel colors, Farrell is almost like Sonny as a little boy in comparison. Everytime he takes off his shades on camera, he looks like he’s gonna cry, anytime he tries to act cool and smooth, you feel like you’re watching a Zucker Bros. spoof of the old show. Then there’s his voice, which alternates from his normal Scots accent to a Southern drawl to some kind of a feminine growl which seems like a bad attempt to impersonate Johnson. In short, Farrell embarasses himself, par for the course for his career. Then, you have Gong Li as the druglord moll that Crockett falls for: merrily butchering the English language that she obviously has little grasp of, trying oh so hard to recite deep profound dialogue that left me scratching my head at what the hell she actually said, this might be the worst female performance of the last 10 years. When the film goes off on a tangent having her and Farrell take off for Cuba for 20 minutes of screentime of them dancing and romancing, the film nearly goes in the toilet with these two incompetent performers carrying the show, and it’s nearly everything Foxx can do to get things back on track when he comes back into the film. Add to that the fact that Crockett and Tubbs’ crew barely get any lines or character development, and the actor playing Lt. Castillo is a VERY poor replacement for Edward James Olmos’ iconic commanding officer. Only John Ortiz, as one of the drug kingpins they’re trying to nail, registers at all with a fairly good performance. Mann nearly redeems himself towards the end with some good action sequences (though not using the original Phil Collins version of “In The Air Tonight” is a travesty), and the final gunfight feels like genuine Vice (right down to the bad guys who seem unable to even wound any of the good guys while they get picked off), but in the end, the film pales in comparison to the unforgettable original pilot episode of the old show…
5/10