More of a cold bed of vice (Miami Vice (Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx) (DVD))

Name: Suzela

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Product:	Miami Vice (Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx) (DVD)
Date:	11/02/08 (72 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good soundtrack and slick directing

Disadvantages: Poor characterisation and no chemistry

When my husband told me that our next rental film was Miami Vice (2006) I admit that I did giggle - images of the 80s television series kept flashing into my head and really hoped there might be a few baggy suits with t-shirts and slip-ons without socks in view. But alas despite the suits and t-shirts it had been brought up to date (which I knew they would really) except I couldn't quite get over Colin Farrell looking like Steve Coogan's Tony Ferrino! And the fact that this film was directed by Michael Mann, whose films such as Heat and Collateral I really quite like, meant that I actually held out hope that this would be quite a good film. Was I right? I have to say the jury is out on this one.

The trouble with a film based on a person or an adaptation of a well loved television series is that the viewer has a preconception of the character being portrayed and if the actor playing them doesn't quite fit with that perception then the film has to be really good to break down those preconceptions. And Mann has successfully done this before in Ali with Will "Men in Black/FreshPrince" Smith and in Collateral with Tom "Top Gun and the notable scientologist" Cruise as a hitman. And someone else who ties all of these films together is Jamie Foxx who starred notably in both of these films and was taking the lead role of Ricardo Tubbs in Miami Vice. Could he replace the image of Philip Michael Thomas and could Colin Farrell really replace Don Johnson? And would we really need them to replace the image? Well the answer is no to all of these but in as much as it doesn't matter if two actors can replace the preconceived ideas of the viewer they do need, especially in this cop film genre, to have a chemistry as a partnership - Thomas and Johnson made the partnership between Crockett and Tubbs, and even the likes of Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the Lethal Weapon series show what a successful partnership is. Foxx and Farrell - the only thing that makes them close is their surnames both begin with F.

And then add onto that the whole appeal of the TV series was the various scenarios they found themselves in every week, the fact that Tubbs lived on a boat guarded by an alligator/crocodile and Crockett wore shiny suits and that all the action was crammed into a short episode or two. You had to wonder how that would transfer into a longer period of time and all the things that made the series worth watching were lost in this film. OK so Tubbs is still the hard man and Crockett is still the charmer (of sorts) but as that is almost expected it doesn't hold any real interest and the fact that there is no chemistry between Foxx and Farrell just makes the potential appeal of the film seep away. You get no sense of the level of seediness of Miami which the TV series did. Yes there is a pimp shoehorned in and a few club scenes but that just seemed like a trendy place to be. Everything in the film is just cold and calculated - there's no feeling of reliance on their partner or any sense of being buddies as well as colleagues and that is one of the main things that build tension in a drama. They care for their partner and so we care for them too. In this you don't really care about them as characters and so what you are watching is a series of events which you can't really engage in. In fact not only do you not really care about them but actually you don't really like them - Tubbs is ok just far too efficient but Crockett not only suffers from the efficiency but is far too cold and emotionless in all his dealings.

What you end up watching most of the time is people on the phone or having a meeting. There is very little real action and there is no sense of jeopardy which considering the dangerous reputations of the crime lords they are supposedly dealing with, is a real shame for a cop thriller. You're supposed to wonder where the twists are but all you end up wondering is should I care about this. And all the talking just lends to the lack of chemistry not just between the two leads but also with the other characters. There are sex scenes in this film which would have been warmer in a fridge. As I said before you can't relate to any of the characters and so all you have to cling to is the cool cars, clothes, houses and quite slick (when they happen) shootouts. But even they are too clinical and really too few. And you're not sure if you are enjoying them because no one is talking on the phone! They're not that original - you've seen it all before and the standoff before the shooting begins is just "I'm a badass, you're a badass and we'll stand here posturing until someone - who suddenly appears to be leading this operation - decides it's safe to shoot". Nothing goes wrong (you just feel that they didn't read the manual on how to make a good cop/buddy thriller), and even when there is a situation of potential upset, you just feel "oh well they'll be ok" and so again there is no jeopardy - you have to ask where is the point you are supposed to care? It's just all a bit too weak and no amount of flashy cars, boats and technology can strengthen it.

As I've mentioned there is no connection between the two main characters and all the supporting actors leave you feeling cold as well. Gong Li, probably best known as the calculating Hatsumomo in Memoirs of a Geisha, actually does quite a good job as the business like femme fatale with a bit more of a heart than perhaps she should have. But her rapport with Farrell is less than convincing as it is with Luis Tosar, the overall baddie of the piece and her boyfriend/business partner, Montoya. In fact as a character Montoya is extremely unsatisfactory - you have no real idea of how dangerous he could be apart from him giving a little speech and turns out to be a little too trusting for someone who probably got to where he was by not trusting anyone. John Ortiz is possibly the only actor this film that gives his role a little bit of realism as the middle man/distributor between our duo and Montoya. You would expect him to be cold and calculating and one of the main people that could cause real trouble for our duo. But even when he does you don't feel he's any real threat. And everyone else in the film just seems shoehorned in with a few strange over the top lines to make them a bit more memorable - except that I can't remember the lines or for that matter the characters very well.

OK so you have probably guessed that I'm not too impressed but for everything that is unimpressive there is not a bad soundtrack with original music by John Murphy and the likes of Moby, Audioslave, Mogwai, oh and of course a Phil Collins song to name but a few. And it does really lift the film and give it a cool edge and ok so you haven't got your Jan Hammer theme from the TV series but it is a really well chosen soundtrack. And that backed by quite sharp directing from Michael Mann gives the film quite a stylised feel which probably lends to the coldness of the film but nevertheless makes it quite enjoyable to watch. And that is the quandary with this film. The story is not great, the acting is not great, the tension is non existent but it's not a bad film to watch. Perhaps I was just pining for a film with the same feel as the TV series and so from that point of view it didn't meet my expectations but although I might not rush to watch it again but I wouldn't turn it off if I found it on television and I wouldn't discourage anyone from seeing it either. As a way to pass an evening it's OK - I just wish I could say it was in the same league as other Michael Mann films.

Summary: If you liked the TV series you might not like this