Thursday, July 27, 2006
Jamie Foxx is underutilized in the film.
By PHILIP WUNTCH
DALLAS MORNING NEWS
Remember "Miami Vice" parties? Devotees of the 1980s television series hosted such soirees, suggesting that guests emulate the show's stars and dress in casual pastels, sans socks or belts.
The new "Miami Vice" movie is not designed to leave audiences in a partying mood. On its own terms, though, it's frequently worthy of cheers.
The TV series was noted for pastel color schemes, Don Johnson's narcissistic slickness and Philip Michael Thomas' piercing-eyed charisma. The movie's style is completely different, one that's suited to the relatively bleak 2000s.
Michael Mann, the series' executive producer, was often credited for its success. He's now the movie's writer and director and opts for a different look, mood and tempo. The film is expertly photographed in dark, gritty tones that make the frequent splashes of blood ever more jarring.
Instead of cool cats Johnson and Thomas, the new "Miami Vice" features the saturnine duo of Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx. The film, at least in terms of onscreen footage, belongs largely to Farrell, with the Oscar-winning Foxx underused.
Yet it's Foxx who delivers the leaner, more penetrating performance. Viewers of a certain vintage will recognize his portrayal of Ricardo Tubbs as a throwback to Jack Webb's "just-the-facts-ma'am" "Dragnet" cop. He's crisp, taut and, well, more or less humane. Like the movie itself, Foxx's performance is a triumph of style over substance. Even when Tubbs is removed from the main action, you're aware of his presence.
However, "Miami Vice" leaves unanswered the question of whether Farrell can carry a movie. His Sonny Crockett is one dour fellow. In "Ask the Dust" and "A Home at the End of the World," the actor allowed moments of humanity to lighten his moroseness. As Crockett he registers only two emotions, blood lust and carnal lust. The latter allows him to smile occasionally.
Directing power
The real "Miami Vice" star is Mann. It takes talent to stage what seems like 179 shoot-outs, chases and explosions without getting repetitious. All the combative scenes have urgency and imagination.
And above all, they have intimacy. Mann drops the viewer into the action with no backstory and few explanations. You feel like a voyeur, eavesdropping on clandestine Dade County rendezvous and learning things you have no business learning.
The convoluted plot has Crockett and Tubbs infiltrating a drug-smuggling empire that extends to Paraguay, Haiti and Havana. This leads, of course, to action vignettes on both land and sea. It's to the director's credit that, no matter how spectacular the action, you still feel like you're eavesdropping.
The screenplay obliges both male leads with a love interest. Noted Chinese actress Gong Li ("Memoirs of a Geisha") intensely plays Isabella, the drug lords' financial analyst/money launderer. Her sad eyes and mournful demeanor strike a chord with the ever-brooding Crockett, and they indulge in energetic displays of passion.
Tubbs has a more stable relationship with Trudy, an outspoken intel analyst played with vigorous appeal by Naomie Harris, also seen currently as the voodoo fortune-teller in "Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest."
But Mann remains the main star, allowing each scene a life of its own. You may not share his high-voltage, blood-spurting vision. But it's reassuring to watch a film that seems made by one person rather than by several committees.