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December 2006 Miami Vice DVD Review

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by Kam Williams Miami Vice DVD Review Cast: Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Gong Li, Naomie Harris, Luis Tosar, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Barry Shabaka Henley, Ana Cristina De Oliveira, Isaach De Bankole, John Ortiz, and Ciaran Hinds, Director: Michael Mann Format: AC-3, Color, Director's Cut, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC Language: English Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 Number of discs: 1 Rating: R Studio: Universal Studios DVD Release Date: December 5, 2006 Run Time: 140 minutes DVD Features: Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1) Miami Vice Undercover Miami & Beyond: Shooting on Location Visualizing Miami Vice Behind the Scenes Featurettes Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Michael Mann

Absence of Chemistry Dooms DVD Adaptation of Classic TV Series    The challenge faced in adapting Miami Vice to the big screen was whether to appeal to a sense of nostalgia via a faithful recreation of the original series or to take the risks associated with overhauling a proven commodity. Well, director Michael Mann opted for the latter, meeting with mediocre results. Besides the lead characters’ names, not much is recognizable about this edition of Miami Vice. The picture pairs Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell as Ricardo Tubbs and Sonny Crockett, though the partners fail to exhibit any of the camaraderie a fan of the franchise might expect. The convoluted storyline opens in Miami where we find the pair undercover as drug dealers in order to crack an international cartel. An improbable plot twist has Crockett falling in love with Isabella (Gong Li), an Amer-Asian gangster’s moll with a mean streak. Tubbs’ love interest, on the other hand, is fellow officer Trudy Joplin (Naomie Harris) who ends up in the clutches of some sadistic white supremacists about to incur her boyfriend’s wrath.The trouble is that Mann makes us wait and wait and wait for the action sequences as the film lumbers along with about 45 minutes of excess celluloid that should have hit the editing room floor. No chemistry, no cool, no compelling characters, no air of urgency. Not exactly your father’s Miami Vice. Fair (1 star)

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