Two decades ago, Detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs of the TV series “Miami Vice” were the essence of style, and not just for television cops. “The Don Johnson look” (Johnson played Crockett on the show) – white blazer with popped-collar and rolled-up sleeves over a t-shirt, and pastel trousers with shoes but no socks -- has become synonymous with ‘80s fashion.
Plain and simple: Crockett and Tubbs’ sense of style signaled a cultured phenomenon.
In the recent movie update “Miami Vice,” Crockett and Tubbs -- now portrayed by Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx -- are just as stylish as their ‘80s predecessors, but are clearly trumped by an even more stylish on-screen presence -- director Michael Mann’s, that is.
For the most part, “Miami Vice” is an enjoyable watch, but it’s hardly due to the narrative expertise of Mann (who also wrote and produced the film), flexed in previous films such as “The Insider” and “Heat.” This movie is all style, but you’ve still got to hand it to Mann; he simply knows how to make things “cool.” Action sequences. Dialogue. The soundtrack. Mann doesn’t take anything for granted.
Case in point: gunshots. Gunshots are always cooler -- more destructive and more harrowing -- in Michael Mann movies, and “Miami Vice” is no exception. It’s this notorious attention to detail -- each gun’s distinct look and sound, the way the characters hold their guns and fire each shot purposefully -- that makes him the most skillful director of action sequences working today.
On more than one occasion during my screening of “Vice,” the theater erupted into a cacophony of jubilant approvals when someone got it particularly bad from a shotgun or scoped rifle. In most action movies -- i.e. any Jerry Bruckheimer production -- gunshots are so overused and generic that they become background noise. Mann uses each gunshot like he’s rationing sound effects.
Mann’s grainy, digital, often handheld camera work in “Vice” makes the viewer feel a little like an undercover operative too, like we’re riding along on the best episode of “Cops” ever. Undoubtedly, some moviegoers will find this style annoying, but it makes for vivid, more true-to-life night sequences like those in “Collateral,” Mann’s previous film (which also starred Foxx).
Consequently, the sets don’t feel contrived; we feel like we’re really battling it out in a Miami port rather than a Burbank studio lot.
Unfortunately, the story takes a backseat in “Vice,” which is why it’s taken a backseat in this review. It’s not that the story is bad; it’s just that the story isn’t as cool, as “distinct” or “stylish”, as the more aesthetic elements of the film.
When a pair of undercover agents that were part of a joint, anti-drug taskforce is killed in Miami, Crockett and Tubbs must discover how the agents were compromised. This means going into deep cover, posing as transportation experts and becoming business partners with a ruthless, globally empowered drug king.
Regardless, Mann delivers the plot in such an impeccable, stylish package that it’s hard not to say: “That movie was cool.” Not “thought provoking” or “amazing”. Just cool.
I don’t know about you, but “cool” is good enough for me.
“Miami Vice,” Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexual content, opens nationwide on Friday.
Plain and simple: Crockett and Tubbs’ sense of style signaled a cultured phenomenon.
In the recent movie update “Miami Vice,” Crockett and Tubbs -- now portrayed by Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx -- are just as stylish as their ‘80s predecessors, but are clearly trumped by an even more stylish on-screen presence -- director Michael Mann’s, that is.
For the most part, “Miami Vice” is an enjoyable watch, but it’s hardly due to the narrative expertise of Mann (who also wrote and produced the film), flexed in previous films such as “The Insider” and “Heat.” This movie is all style, but you’ve still got to hand it to Mann; he simply knows how to make things “cool.” Action sequences. Dialogue. The soundtrack. Mann doesn’t take anything for granted.
Case in point: gunshots. Gunshots are always cooler -- more destructive and more harrowing -- in Michael Mann movies, and “Miami Vice” is no exception. It’s this notorious attention to detail -- each gun’s distinct look and sound, the way the characters hold their guns and fire each shot purposefully -- that makes him the most skillful director of action sequences working today.
On more than one occasion during my screening of “Vice,” the theater erupted into a cacophony of jubilant approvals when someone got it particularly bad from a shotgun or scoped rifle. In most action movies -- i.e. any Jerry Bruckheimer production -- gunshots are so overused and generic that they become background noise. Mann uses each gunshot like he’s rationing sound effects.
Mann’s grainy, digital, often handheld camera work in “Vice” makes the viewer feel a little like an undercover operative too, like we’re riding along on the best episode of “Cops” ever. Undoubtedly, some moviegoers will find this style annoying, but it makes for vivid, more true-to-life night sequences like those in “Collateral,” Mann’s previous film (which also starred Foxx).
Consequently, the sets don’t feel contrived; we feel like we’re really battling it out in a Miami port rather than a Burbank studio lot.
Unfortunately, the story takes a backseat in “Vice,” which is why it’s taken a backseat in this review. It’s not that the story is bad; it’s just that the story isn’t as cool, as “distinct” or “stylish”, as the more aesthetic elements of the film.
When a pair of undercover agents that were part of a joint, anti-drug taskforce is killed in Miami, Crockett and Tubbs must discover how the agents were compromised. This means going into deep cover, posing as transportation experts and becoming business partners with a ruthless, globally empowered drug king.
Regardless, Mann delivers the plot in such an impeccable, stylish package that it’s hard not to say: “That movie was cool.” Not “thought provoking” or “amazing”. Just cool.
I don’t know about you, but “cool” is good enough for me.
“Miami Vice,” Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexual content, opens nationwide on Friday.
