Synopsis

Crockett and Tubbs learn that a high-level leak has led to the slaughter of two federal agents and the murder of an informant friend’s family. Pulled into the case, the two detectives’ investigation takes them straight to the doorstep of vicious killers from the Aryan Brotherhood and a sophisticated network of globalized traffickers protected by world-class security. During the hunt, the partners encounter the cartel’s beautiful Chinese-Cuban financial officer Isabella, a woman who moves, launders and invests money. The seductress provides Crockett a way of exorcising his own demons as he tries to keep her safe from darker forces such as the highly suspicious José Yero and her mentor, drug cartel boss Montoya. Simultaneously, the stoic Tubbs infiltrates the elusive criminal enterprise while keeping a protective eye on his intel-analyst girlfriend, Trudy. During their mission, lines will get crossed as the partners start forgetting not only which way is up, but on which side of the law they’re supposed to be.

What The Critics Say

"The film, like its oddly rumbling sky, promises more than it ever delivers. Granted, it can look cool. But more often, as we wait for the lightning that never arrives, it frustrates." Lisa Kennedy DENVER POST It’s quite simply, a yawn. This is a very indolent effort for seasoned pro Mann. This is seriously the biggest disappointment since I’d gotten those highschool exam results." Clint Morris WEB WOMBAT "Michael Mann is the first director to make Colin Farrell seem like a man rather than the impish thugs or mooning boy-men he usually gives us." Laura Clifford REELING REVIEWS "Miami Vice delivers the thrills, atmosphere and romance it promises, but it doesn't resonate like major Mann." David Ansen NEWSWEEK "Michael Mann, working once again with Australian cinematographer Dion Beebe on high definition digital video, has returned to the scene of his success on television by bringing Miami Vice to the big screen. The real problem is that this is a nothing plot, we’ve seen it many times before, Mann’s inclusion of a couple of extended sex scenes that are not really so sexy is just a diversion. But that said, Mann is a good director of action so the film has its moments. It’s just when you string them together they don’t add up to much. 3 STARS." Margaret Pomeranz ABC AT THE MOVIES

"Spearheaded by the compelling paring of Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, Miami Vice delivers serious action, dangerous liaisons and spectacular locations in a tense and highly anticipated drama adapted from the 80s TV series. Michael Mann's filmmaking skills ensure an engrossing experience, although the film's overlong running time and confusing plot points deter a little." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE "Compared with Mann's other films, Miami Vice lacks the slam-bang set pieces of Heat and the human dynamic of Collateral." Bill Muller ARIZONA REPUBLIC "The truest thing to say about Miami Vice is that it's an OK picture with some superb things in it." Mick LaSalle SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE "...a stylish, violent crime drama where you either go along for the ride or shouldn't bother getting on." Daniel M Kimmel WORCESTER TELEGRAM & GAZETTE "I think he's really a fine director. And yes, I was a little bit disappointed with this because I was expecting something quite amazing. I was expecting to get blown away by this. .. Gong Li, as you say, is mesmerising. But it's very difficult sometimes to understand what she's saying. 3 1/2 STARS." David Stratton ABC AT THE MOVIES

The Inside Story It wasn't until I read my production notes from UIP that I realized, I had been on the right track. Given the press and the critics comments on Michael Mann's new film "Miami Vice" it would be easy to assume that it's just an upmarket remake of the television series he was associated with back in the eighties. Being a big fan of 'the mann', I gave him more credit than many seem to have and that readers is why I've given it a solid rating of three and a half stars. About the only thing that actually resembles the hit television series which ran from 1984 to 1989 and on which Mann was an executive producer, is the name of the detectives and the fact that they work for the Miami PD. "I had zero interest in doing a Xerox or a nostalgia trip on the first one," Mann said. "By design, I had to decide as a film director: 'Do I want audiences tripping into associations that are nostalgic, or do I want them feeling they are right now in the contemporary world?' And the answer was the latter," he added. In fact the idea for "Miami Vice was first put by Mann to Academy Award ® winning actor Jamie Foxx ("Ray") four years ago. "The Miami Vice I want to see is undercover, right now, and life in those dangerous places, for real," Mann said. "That means there are relationships, real human relationships. People sleep together. And if you engage in this kind of work, it takes you into dangerous situations and very dangerous places and bad things happen." And true to form the film contains: elements of danger; beautiful locations; two stars who look the part and of course, very realistic shootouts between the good guys and the baddies, and a dangerous liaison between undercover agent Crockett and the beautiful gangster moll, Isabella. Mann it seems was always keen to make the movie, "Miami Vice". "After Collateral, Mann lost no time choosing "Miami Vice" as his next project. What attracted him to the original teleplay in 1984 (the reality of life undercover) he finds no less compelling in our new, ‘globalized’ millennium," says author F.X. Feeney, in his book 'Michael Mann'. "Mann’s interest in telling the story of a dark world connected through "multi-commodity, lies in the fact that drugs, weapons, pirated software, counterfeit pharmaceuticals, even human beings are all routinely trafficked and sold, across international boundaries." And Mann's interest goes right back to that television series. "When I first read Tony Yerkovich’s screenplay for the original Miami Vice pilot, my instinct was to make this as a feature film," he said. "But it had already been committed to NBC as a television series." Making a feature film would allow Mann to return to the city that was the central part of the television series. "The allure of Miami has sustained itself in my imagination," he notes. "The city has a perfumed reality, where things are not exactly what they seem. It’s very attractive, alluring and sensual; it’s also very dangerous." While there is plenty of danger in "Miami Vice", there's also a share of sensuality too. Tubbs is involved with intel-analyst Trudy while Crockett is living dangerously by having an illicit affair with the drug cartel’s beautiful Chinese-Cuban financial officer Isabella. To create a true sense of realism Mann brought in experts to work with the cast. Working with a cast that features leads Foxx, Farrell and Li "is what makes the experience of directing exciting and adventurous." "The amount of information that Michael had to offer all of us was amazing. We went everywhere to find Crockett. Atlanta, Memphis and parts of Texas. We studied who his father was, that his mother died pretty young. I reviewed reels of information on the clothing of the time Sonny was born, what the number one shows, movies and music were. It permeates through you and affects your choices." Mann has plenty of praise for Farrell. "Colin is just courageous, in upper-case letters, and comes at it from a place of complete classical training. He’s fueled by a fearlessness to go where his character has to." he said. Farrell, according to Mann, "brings an entirely new character to the same role of Sonny Crockett. Nothing undoes what Don Johnson did, which was great. This is an additional iteration; no comparative context applies." For Farrell's co-star Jamie Foxx, working on "Miami Vice" would be his third collaboration with Mann. The two had previously worked together on "Ali" (2001) and "Collateral" (2004). Mann obviously has plenty of respect for Foxx. "Jamie is a genius at using mimicry as a means to get to an immediate, spontaneous, truthful place with moment and character," he said. "He knows the demeanor that Tubbs should have, and he goes all the way with it." So how did Fox go about developing his character? By "working with the characteristics of a person," he explained. "I have to see someone and watch them, because I already know what I want to do with the character." Farrell is quick to dispel those media reports that said there were problems between himself and Foxx. At the time of those reports, Farrel said, "I hadn't even seen him yet." What makes any 'talk' of a problem even less credible is what Farrell had to say about working with Foxx. "There is a deep kind of friendship and understanding that is born of sharing a lot of the same beliefs," he says, "just being there for each other and trusting one another." Casting acclaimed actress Li Gong in the role of Isabella fulfilled an ambition for Mann. "I’ve wanted to work with Gong since I saw her in Raise the Red Lantern and Red Sorghum," Mann said. "The more difficult things become, the better she likes them." Li will be remembered by cinemagoers for her starring roles in the recent "Memoirs of a Geisha". This role is a far cry from that one. "This character is very different," she notes. "She is quite distinctive. You can’t say that she’s a villain, but she is a drug smuggler. She’s a strong person, but at the same time, a truly vulnerable one." On working with Mann she says, "He assigns impossible tasks for you to complete, but he tells you that you are able. In the end, you really do achieve it." And that dangerous sexual liaison in which Isabella and Crockett become lovers? "Isabella’s afraid of real emotions and feelings. She has never had an emotional connection that she committed her whole being to," Li offers. Mann describes their liaison as one you have "once in a lifetime. Except she’s the wrong woman, and he’s the wrong guy." Fans of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" will recognize actress Naomie Harris who plays Tubb's fellow police officer and lover, Trudy. "Naomie is brilliant," says Mann. "She has a voracious appetite for acquiring skills." Those skills were honed in Mann's 'boot camp'. "We drilled and drilled, going out to the gun range four times a week for two hours a day and shooting off about 500 rounds per day," Farrell recalls. " We were shown tactically how you hold a gun, how to lessen yourself as a target and how to have synchronicity and economy of movement that would allow you to take out your target." Farrell also notes that "Michael doesn’t have people working on his films who say ‘in theory.’ They are all very practiced in what they do or have done. He’s all about, ‘Why fake it when you can do it for real?’ They get 10 minutes to convince somebody that they’re the real deal and that they’re there to buy or sell product. The downside of a bad take for them isn’t a shift in direction or mood for the scene, it’s a bullet in the head." That mood is captured extremely well in "Miami Vice" thanks to the use of new digital cameras. It makes you feel as though you 'are' a part of the real deal. Mann says that's because "digital gives the visual look of a movie, a tremendous depth of field, and sometimes allows you to feel you are that person standing next to a character." As for those exotic locations well, most of "Miami Vice" was filmed in Miami and Key West, Florida, with forays into Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Brazil. "Miami Vice" looks good, feels good and comes across as very realistic. The Verdict "If you grew up on a diet of "Miami Vice" television style, you might just find yourself in a little trouble when it comes to Michael Mann's latest film, "Miami Vice". This is not a remake of the eighties series which featured Don Johnson as Det James 'Sonny' Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Det Ricardo 'Rico' Tubbs. Mann has elevated "Miami Vice" to another level, one he says he wanted to do right from the very start of the series. Cinemagoers will thank their lucky stars that fate decreed he'd make his big screen, feature film version in the twenty first century. Everything about this version feels like the real deal. The cast, the locations, the dealings and the deadly shootouts are first class. Shot on digital cameras the feeling throughout the film is as though you are standing right alongside Crockett and Tubbs. "Miami Vice" is certainly good value for your cinema bucks. 3 1/2 STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "MIAMI VICE" stars .......
Colin Farrell ["Tigerland", "Daredevil", "S.W.A.T." and "Intermission"]; Jamie Foxx ["Any Given Sunday", "Collateral", "Ray" and "Jarhead"]; Justin Theroux ["Mulholland Drive", "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" and "Strangers with Candy"]; Luis Tosar ["One Day In Europe", "The Night of the Brother" and "Cargo"]; Elizabeth Rodriguez ["Fresh", "Dead President's" and "Blow"]; Naomie Harris ["28 Days Later", "After the Sunset", "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"] with John Ortiz ["Carlito's Way", "Before Night Falls", "Narc" and "Take the Lead"] as José Yero and Li Gong ["Farewell My Concubine", "The Assassin", "2046" and "Memoirs of a Geisha"] as Isabella.
"MIAMI VICE" was .......
directed by Michael Mann ["Thief", "The Last of the Mohicans", "Manhunter", "Ali" and "Collateral"]; screenplay by Michael Mann ["The Last of the Mohicans", "The Keep", "Heat" and "Ali"]; production design by Victor Kempster ["JFK", "Natural Born Killers", "Any Given Sunday" and "Bandits"]; director of photography Academy Award winner Dion Beebe ["The Goddess of 1967", "Chicago", "Collateral" and "Memoirs of a Geisha"]; original music by John Murphy ["Snatch", "Intermission" and "Millions"] produced by Pieter Jan Brugge ["Consenting Adults", "The Vanishing", "The Pelican Brief" and "The Insider"] and Michael Mann ["Heat", "How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass", "Collateral" and "The Aviator"]. Run Time 132 minutes Rated MA15+ [AUST] Copyright ©2006 - Universal Pictures - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2006 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved