Miami Vice (2006)
Starring Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Gong Li
Written and Directed by Michael Mann


I remember being no more than five or six years old at the time when I first got a taste of the world of Miami Vice. Yes, it was on late, but I have very liberal parents who let me stay up and watch late-night NBC during the early eighties. I was seduced by Miami Vice and have been infatuated with it since. The mood lighting, the fashion, the music, the drugs, sex... Yes, I definitely wasn’t like the other five-year-olds and Miami Vice definitely wasn’t like other shows. It was hot. Intense. I am so happy to say that it is still just as hot and just as intense on the big screen. Even more so, actually.

Underneath all the gloss, Miami Vice has always been about the daily grind of being an undercover officer and going in so deep sometimes that you don’t know which way is up anymore. It was about really good guys giving up their lives to catch those really bad guys. However, what makes Miami Vice different from other cops and robbers shows is one thing: Michael Mann. Michael Mann gave Miami Vice life with his vision to make it look MTV, but not have it be as shallow. This gave the audience a show that looked so damn good, but at the same time really told a good story. So, naturally with Michael Mann being the writer and director of the 2006 Miami Vice theatrical film, we have something truly special. Using digital cameras and his signature raw and visceral storytelling style -- Michael Mann really raises the bar with Miami Vice. Refusing to use CGI and insisting on filming in actual locations all over Southern Florida and Cuba (that is why the movie cost so much) -- Mann is able to make us “feel” his film. Nothing is better than the real thing, I don’t care what George Lucas thinks and thank goodness Michael Mann doesn’t either. Each scene, each frame, in the film is carefully lit and carefully crafted, putting us in moods. Sexy, intense, hot, cool, hurt, angry -- all shades of Miami Vice. Colin Farrell is no Don Johnson and Jamie Foxx is no Philip Michael Thomas, but they do a good job filling their shoes for this generation. We believe Farrell as Detective Sonny Crockett, a womanizing hot-shot rebel, and we believe Foxx as Ricardo Tubbs, a soft-spoken hero with swagger.

The story of Miami Vice is presented in almost a reality TV/documentary fashion. Crockett and Tubbs along with the rest of the Vice squad have a job to do involving some bad drug dealing Cubans and we are right there beside them for the ride. Whether making love or in the middle of a shoot-out, Mann tries his best to make us forget that we are watching a film and makes us a participant. He makes us feel the moments, not just watch them.

Miami Vice on the big screen is simply put: an experience. It is raw, gritty, and it will have you in bed moaning and groaning before you know it.


THE RUNDOWN:

The Good: Miami Vice is raw emotion and a thrilling experience.

The Bad: Nobody can replace Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas.

The Law: Miami Vice should not be missed. Go feel and experience the intensity that is Michael Mann’s Miami Vice.