Miami Vice (2006)

writ and dir. Michael Mann
series created by Anthony Yerkovich
feat. Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Gong Li, Naomie Harris, Ciaran Hinds, Justin Theroux

We all have our guilty pleasures, and having been a religious viewer of the original Miami Vice series, my impressionable young self struck by the sex, violence, and those jaw-dropping surprise endings, I couldn't help but eventually get around to the feature film.

Most striking here is the devotion to the original characters that Mann employs in his update of the material. I remember reading an interview at the time of release, noting how much of the old pastel and stucco of the 80s is long gone from Miami, all of which is gladly abandoned. But the characters, in both their strengths and flaws are faithful to the source. Tubbs (Foxx) remains the verbose, less than genius, unconvincingly tough-talking loyal brother, always ready to clarify the details, the officer in charge of exposition. He has his girl and will protect her at all costs, perhaps endangering the case to do so. This frees Crocket (Farrell) to play the wild man, hooked on the job, losing his identity over the course of long stints undercover. He works it fast and loose, racing off to chase the femme fatale, bonding over their shared high-risk lifestyles. Shying away from the morose, when Sonny and Isabella (Li) recognize their relationship can't last, they immediately realize that it means there is nothing to lose, only stoking their fires for one another.

Mann delivers the whole batch relatively seamlessly and deserves credit for his honorable update when he could have easily offered up a wild buddy cop story that simply cashed in on the brand. However, the pieces don't add up to a stellar film even if the elements are true. The sex scenes are requisite (apparently one shower per star) and devoid of heat, even with attractive players, and though one criminal (Luis Tosar) actually has the presence to seem truly threatening, the film fails to realize a climax that feels worthy of the big screen. Any pleasures, guilty or otherwise, could be just as easily sated by watching an episode of the TV show.