Miami Vice (film)

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For the 1980s TV series, see Miami Vice.
For the 2006 video game, see Miami Vice: The Game.
Miami Vice
Directed by Michael Mann
Produced by Michael Mann
Pieter Jan Brugge
Written by Michael Mann
Starring Jamie Foxx
Colin Farrell
Gong Li
Cinematography Dion Beebe
Distributed by Universal Studios
Release date(s) July 28, 2006
Running time 134 mins (theatrical version)
139 mins (director's cut)
Country USA USA
Language English, Spanish, Cree
Budget $136 million [1][2]
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Miami Vice is a 2006 American feature film adaptation of the 1980s TV series of the same name, written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann, the TV show's executive producer. The film stars Jamie Foxx as Ricardo Tubbs and Colin Farrell as James Crockett, as well as acclaimed Chinese actress Gong Li as the banker and right-hand woman of a powerful druglord.

Miami Vice is a crime drama which tells the tales of two undercover Miami police officers, Crockett and Tubbs, combating global drug trafficking and internal security leaks by going deeply undercover in the drug trafficking operations in the US and South America. Unlike the pastel laden and often comical Miami Vice TV series set in the 80s, this adaptation is a very dark and serious drama set in the modern era about police officers engaging in undercover operations and how their professional lives interwind with their personal lives.

Contents

[edit] Cast

Actor Role
Colin Farrell Detective James "Sonny" Crockett/Sonny Burnett
Jamie Foxx Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs/Rico Cooper
Gong Li Isabella
Luis Tosar Arcangel de Jesus Montoya
Naomie Harris Detective Trudy Joplin
Elizabeth Rodriguez Detective Gina Calabrese
Justin Theroux Detective Larry Zito
Ciarán Hinds FBI Agent James Fujima
Barry Shabaka Henley Lieutenant Martin Castillo
Domenick Lombardozzi Detective Stan Switek
Isaach De Bankolé Neptune
John Hawkes Alonzo Stevens
Tom Towles Coleman
Eddie Marsan Nicholas
John Ortiz Jose "Cochi Loco" Yero

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
Detectives Crockett (Farrell) and Tubbs (Foxx).
Detectives Crockett (Farrell) and Tubbs (Foxx).

A security leak causes a setback in the investigation of a South American drug cartel. The FBI deputizes detectives Crockett and Tubbs, believing they can pick up the trail because local police had not been part of the original task force. The detectives meet cartel middleman Jose Yero and drug kingpin Arcangel de Jesus Montoya, who enlists them to ship his "product" to the States. Meantime, Crockett is drawn to Isabella, Montoya's lover and financial adviser. The two begin a romance - a development not unnoticed by Yero, who has been suspicious of Crockett and Tubbs from the start. Tubbs also notices his partner's behavior and worries that Crockett may be straying too far to the other side.

Crockett and Tubbs continue dealing with the cartel until Yero orders the Aryan Brotherhood to kidnap Tubbs' girlfriend Trudy. The detectives raid the Aryan hideout, yet Yero detonates a bomb by remote and the blast leaves Trudy severely wounded. Yero also alerts Montoya to Isabella's relationship with Crockett. The detectives and Yero arrange a drop-off for the drugs still in Crockett and Tubbs' possession. Yero arrives with Isabella, given to him by a vengeful Montoya. A shootout ensues; Tubbs kills Yero. Crockett flees with Isabella to a safe house, where he arranges transport to Cuba. Elsewhere, a heavily armed police unit storms Montoya's compound, finding it empty. In Miami, Tubbs is present when Trudy begins to stir from her coma. With Isabella gone, Crockett rejoins his team at the hospital.

[edit] Production

It was Jamie Foxx who first brought up the idea of a Miami Vice film to Michael Mann during a party for Muhammad Ali. Jamie had gone on for more than 20 minutes about why Miami Vice should be made.[citation needed] This led Michael Mann to revisit the series he helped create. Like Collateral, which also starred Foxx, most of the film was shot with the Thomson Viper Filmstream Camera, and the remainder was shot on Super 35mm film. According to a Euroweb article, Tubbs' suits were designed by famous fashion designer Ozwald Boateng. He had worked with Jamie Foxx in the past and caught Mann's eye who then asked him to work on the movie.[3]

The film, shot on location in the Caribbean and South Florida, lost seven days of filming to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.[4] The delays led to a budget of what some insiders claimed to be over $150 million, though Universal Studios says it cost $135 million.[2] Several crew members criticized Mann's decisions during productions, which featured sudden script changes, filming in unsafe weather conditions, and choosing locations that "even the police avoid, drafting gang members to work as security."[2]

Foxx was also characterized as unpleasant to work with, mostly due to his ego. Foxx refused to fly commercially, forcing Universal to give him a private jet. Foxx would not participate in scenes on boats or planes. After gunshots were fired on set in the Dominican Republic on October 24, 2005, Foxx packed up and refused to return; this forced Mann to re-write the ending of the film, an ending that some crew members characterized as less dramatic than the original.[2] Foxx, who won an Academy Award after signing to do Miami Vice, was also reputed to complain about co-star Farrell's larger salary, something Foxx felt didn't reflect his new status as an Oscar winner. Foxx received an increase in salary to match Farrell's. It was also reported that Foxx demanded top billing after winning an Oscar. [2]

The first teaser trailer to appear for the film featured the Linkin Park/Jay-Z song "Numb/Encore". This trailer was attached to the release of King Kong in theatres. For several months before its release, the official website hosted the first teaser trailer for download as a High-Definition WMV download, and is still available at the official site.

[edit] Reaction

Response to Miami Vice has been mixed. As of February 26, 2007, it holds an Internet Movie Database user rating of 6.1/10, a 65 "Generally Favourable Reviews" rating on Metacritic and a 48% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Miami Vice received positive notices from major publications including Rolling Stone, Wall Street Journal, New York Post, Empire, Variety, Newsweek, New York Magazine,The Village Voice, The Boston Globe and Entertainment Weekly. Additionally, New York Times critic Manohla Dargis declared it "glorious entertainment" in her year-end wrap-up and praised its innovative use of digital photography.

Still, the movie received a thumbs-down from The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times. Miami Vice opened at No. 1 in the United States, with a first-weekend gross of $25.7 million. It ultimately would gross $163.8 million worldwide, measured against its original production budget of $135 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

[edit] Music

Despite not appearing on the soundtrack, clips of two Audioslave songs, "Wide Awake" and "Shape of Things to Come," appeared in the film. It is possible they were not included on the soundtrack due to the close release of their album Revelations. The soundtrack's versions of "Blacklight Fantasy" and "Strict Machine" are not the original versions of the song and are not actually featured in the film. In the film, the We Are Glitter Goldfrapp Mix of "Strict Machine" is used, and both it and "Blacklight Fantasy" are edits from Sasha's mix album, Fundacion NYC. The version of Moby's "Anthem" used on the soundtrack is the album version, which does not appear in the film: prominent placement is given to Moby's "Cinematic Version" remix, but the album version is never played. Another song which did not make the soundtrack is the song played in the teaser trailer and opening sequence, "Numb/Encore" by Jay-Z/Linkin Park. There is a song circulating around the internet called "Not Yet" performed by Aftermath Entertainment recording artist G.A.G.E., the song also features one of the film stars Jamie Foxx. It has been rumoured that this was going to be a lead song for the soundtrack. RZA was hired to do the film's score, but was later replaced with Organized Noize.[citation needed]

[edit] DVD

The DVD was released on December 12, 2006. It contained many extra features and an extended cut, the most noticable difference between the theatrical cut and the unrated cut is that the film begins with standard credits and a boat race, rather than the cold start in the Night club. Nonpoint's cover of "In The Air Tonight" (Phil Collins' song famous from the soundtrack of the television series) was cut into the film's climactic shootout by Mann in the unrated cut rather than being used over the end credits as it had been theatrically. This will be one of the first HD DVD/DVD combo disc to be released by Universal Studios. A Blu-ray Disc will not be released because Universal Studios has signed an exclusive distribution deal with HD DVD.

As of February 11, 2007, Miami Vice has grossed over US 66.45 million in rental according to Box Office Mojo.

[edit] Trivia

  • Crockett's Boat (white paint and labeled "Mojo") is a MTI (Marine Technology Inc.) 39 Series with two Mercury Engines fitted. 116 MPH. In correct sense it is an Offshore Catamaran.
  • The three boats in the drug running scene are a Donzi 38 ZF Daytona, a Donzi 38 ZR, and a Donzi 43 ZR.
  • The (first) distinctive plane featured in the film is the Adam A500. There is another characteristic plane in the film, a Piaggio P180 Avanti, which brings Isabella at the Barranquilla airport, Colombia.
  • Sal Magluta, the drug trafficer identified by Tubbs running Go-Fast boats in the opening scenes of the movie, is in fact one of Miami's reputed "Cocaine Cowboys" and is currently serving a life sentence for money laundering.
  • Like in the original TV Show, Crockett drives a Ferrari, this time a Ferrari F430. Later on in the movie they drive a white BMW 6 series Coupe, which might be a tribute to a white Mercedes Benz they had during the first season.
  • When deciding if they will continue to work with Yero, Tubbs quotes The Eagles by saying "Let's take it to the limit one more time", a reference to the song "Take It To The Limit".
  • In one of the first scenes of the movie Tubbs breaks a man's hand in a nightclub, his fighting moves nearly exactly duplicate those of Tom Cruise's character Vincent during a club scene in another one of Michael Mann's movies, Collateral.
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
  • Though Mann set out to craft entirely new characters and story, there were still very subtle references to the television show on which it is based. The plot shares many elements with the original series' debut episodes, and the season 1 episode "Smuggler's Blues" is referenced; in the movie, Tubbs tells drug-dealing Yero: "We can close each others' eyes real fast, but then nobody's gonna make any money."—a nod to the line drug-dealing Grossero tells Tubbs in the television episode "Smuggler's Blues": "You and I are businessmen. We have business to look forward to which we will never see if we close each other's eyes". In that same episode, Sonny says "Why is he donating to the good and the welfare?"—in the movie, Rico has a similar line. Trudy is also held hostage in a trailer while rigged with explosives in both.
  • During a flying scene, a piece of music is played which incorporates the first three chords of Jan Hammer's Crockett's Theme, but goes no further.
Spoilers end here.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Miami Vice from Box Office Mojo
  2. ^ a b c d e Fleeing the Scene, a July 13, 2006 article from Slate
  3. ^ http://www.eurweb.com/printable.cfm?id=26990
  4. ^ Vice feels the squeeze: Timing a little off for Mann's latest project, A January 2006 article from Variety

[edit] External links


Films directed by Michael Mann
Thief • The Keep • Manhunter • L.A. Takedown •The Last of the Mohicans • Heat • The Insider • Ali • Collateral • Miami Vice
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