| Miami Vice | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Michael Mann |
| Produced by | Michael Mann Pieter Jan Brugge |
| Written by | Michael Mann |
| Based on | Miami Vice by Anthony Yerkovich |
| Starring | Colin Farrell Jamie Foxx Gong Li |
| Music by | John Murphy Klaus Badelt |
| Cinematography | Dion Beebe |
| Editing by | William Goldenberg Paul Rubell |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
| Release date(s) | July 28, 2006 |
| Running time | 134 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $135 million[1][2] |
| Box office | $163,794,509[1] |
Miami Vice is a 2006 American crime drama film about two Miami police detectives, Crockett and Tubbs, who go undercover to fight drug trafficking operations. The film is a loose adaptation of the 1980s TV series of the same name, written, produced, and directed by Michael Mann. The film stars Jamie Foxx as Tubbs and Colin Farrell as Crockett, as well as Chinese actress Gong Li as Isabella.
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While working an undercover prostitute sting operation to arrest a pimp named Neptune, Miami-Dade Police detectives James "Sonny" Crockett and Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs receive a frantic phone call from their former informant Alonzo Stevens (John Hawkes). Stevens reveals that he is planning to leave town, and, believing his wife Leonetta to be in immediate danger, asks Rico to check on her. Crockett learns that Stevens was working as an informant for the FBI but has been compromised. Crockett and Tubbs quickly contact the FBI Special Agent in Charge John Fujima (Ciarán Hinds) and warn him about Stevens' safety. Tracking down Stevens through a vehicle transponder and aerial surveillance, Crockett and Tubbs stop him along I-95. Stevens reveals that a Colombian cartel knew that Russian undercovers were working with the FBI from the start and had threatened that Leonetta would be murdered via a C-4 necklace bomb if he did not confess. Rico tells Alonzo that he does not have to go home. Having learned her fate, Stevens, in a state of grief, commits suicide by walking in front of an oncoming semi truck.
En route to the murder scene, Sonny and Rico receive a call from Lt. Castillo (Barry Shabaka Henley) and are instructed to stay away. He tells them to meet him downtown, where they are introduced to John Fujima, head of the Florida Joint Inter-Agency Task Force between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI. An angry Crockett and Tubbs berate Fujima for the errors committed and inquire as to why the MPD were not involved. Fujima reveals that the Colombian group is highly sophisticated and run by Jose Yero (John Ortiz), initially thought to be the cartel's leader. Fujima enlists Crockett and Tubbs, making them Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force deputies, to help, and they continue the investigation by looking into "go-fast boats" coming from the Caribbean, delivering loads of narcotics from the Colombians. They then use their Miami informant contacts to set up a meet and greet with the cartel.
Posing as drug smugglers "Sonny Burnett" and "Rico Cooper", the two offer their services to Yero. They find out Yero is the cartel's security and intel man. After a high tension meeting they pass screening and are introduced to Archangel de Jesus Montoya (Luis Tosar), kingpin of drug trafficking in South Florida. In the course of their investigation, Crockett and Tubbs learn that the cartel is using the Aryan Brotherhood gang to distribute drugs, and is supplying them with state-of-the-art weaponry. Crockett is also drawn to Montoya's financial advisor and lover Isabella (Gong Li), and the two begin a secret romance on the side. Tubbs begins to worry that Crockett may be getting too deeply involved in his undercover role and fears for the safety of the team. Those fears are soon realized as Trudy (Naomie Harris), the unit's intelligence agent, is kidnapped by the Aryan Brotherhood gang, and her life is threatened with a bomb the same way Leonetta's was unless the loads Crockett and Tubbs were delivering are directly handed over to the AB. With the help of Lt. Castillo the unit triangulates Trudy's location to a mobile home in a trailer park and performs a rescue, but she is critically injured in the aftermath when Tubbs fails to clear her in time from the mobile home and the bomb explodes. Soon afterwards, Crockett and Tubbs face off against Montoya's number two man Jose Yero, his men, and the Aryan gang at the port of Miami.
After the face-off, Crockett begins to call in backup. When Isabella sees his police shield and sees him using the radio, she comes to the realization that he is undercover. Betrayed, she demands that Crockett tell her who he really is. After the gunfight, Crockett takes her to a police safehouse and tells her she will have to leave the country and return to her home in Cuba. As Crockett and Isabella stare at each other while Isabella is on a boat slowly drifting off, Crockett takes one last glance, walks away, and drives off. Meanwhile, Tubbs is in the hospital holding Trudy's hand as she grasps his, signifying that she is recovering from her coma. Isabella is shown again on the boat crying, while Crockett is headed into the entrance of the hospital to visit Trudy.
Jamie Foxx brought up the idea of a Miami Vice film to Michael Mann during a party for Ali. This led Michael Mann to revisit the series he helped create.[3]
Like Collateral, which also starred Foxx, most of the film was shot with the Thomson Viper Filmstream Camera, while Super 35 was used for high-speed and underwater shots. Cinematographer Dion Beebe was also the cinematographer of Collateral.[4]
The suits that Jamie Foxx wore in the film 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 film.[5] Michael Kaplan was responsible for the costume design overall.
The film, shot on location in the Caribbean, Uruguay (the seaside resort Atlántida[6], the old building of the Carrasco International Airport, the "Rambla" and the Old City of Montevideo), Paraguay (Ciudad del Este)[7] and South Florida, lost seven days of filming to Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.[8] The delays led to a budget of what some insiders claimed to be over $150 million, though Universal Pictures says it cost $135 million.[2] Several crew members criticized Mann's decisions during production, 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. 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 did not 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]
Mann wanted a film that was as real as it was stylish and even put Colin Farrell in jeopardy by bringing him along (with real FBI drug squads) to drug busts so Farrell could build up the character of Crockett even more. It was later revealed that these busts were faked by Mann.[9]
Sal Magluta, the drug trafficker identified by Tubbs running Go-Fast boats in the opening scenes of the film, is in fact one of Miami's real-life reputed "Cocaine Cowboys" and is currently serving a life sentence for money laundering.
Although 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 episode "Smuggler's Blues":
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 theaters. For several months before its release, the official web site hosted the first teaser trailer for download as a High-Definition WMV download, which is still available at the official site.
Several companies cross-advertised with Miami Vice or had products showcased in them. These companies included IWC,[10][11] Adam Airplanes, Bacardi, Motorola, Nokia, BMW, Donzi, MTI (Marine Technology, Inc.), Benelli, and Ferrari among others[12]
Their products are seen throughout the film:
The original Miami Vice television series composer, Jan Hammer, is completely absent from the film and soundtrack. Michael Mann did not want to use the theme song in the film.[13] Furthermore Mann didn’t want any association with the TV series at the behest of Universal executives.[13] Fans of the series e-mailed Universal thousands of letters to include the theme, but ultimately Mann said no.[13] As Hammer put it: "I was completely surprised they didn’t have a remake of it. I think it’s a matter of being too cool for school."[13]
Phil Collins' famous hit "In the Air Tonight", which was featured in the debut episode of the television series, is featured in the original film as a cover done by Miami-based rock band Nonpoint.[14] during the closing credits and on the soundtrack. Mann's "Director's Edit" released on DVD places the song in the film just prior to the climactic gun battle as suggested by members of the production crew during post-production.[15]
The RZA was supposed to contribute to the film's score but dropped out for unknown reasons.[16][17] Organized Noise jumped onboard instead.
The music included on the soundtrack has several differences from what was featured in the film:
Miami Vice opened at No. 1 in the United States, knocking Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest out of the number one position at the box office that weekend, after Pirates led the box office for almost a full month.[18] In its opening weekend, the film grossed over $25.7 million at 3,021 theaters nationwide, with an average gross of $8,515 per theater.[19] The film would go on to earn $63.5 million domestically.[19] Miami Vice would fare better internationally. The films aired in 77 countries overseas, grossing $100,344,039 in its international run.[20] Overall the film grossed $164 million worldwide[19] helping to further surpass the reported $135 million budget.
The film stands as one of Michael Mann's top three most financially successful films, next to Heat and Collateral.[21]
Miami Vice was released to DVD on December 12, 2006. It contained many extra features the theatrical version did not include an extended cut of the film itself. It is one of the first HD DVD/DVD combo discs to be released by Universal Studios. Miami Vice's HD-DVD was one of the best selling DVDs of 2006.[22] The DVD debuted in third place (behind Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Superman Returns) and managed to sell over a million copies (equivalent to $7.91 million) in its first week alone.[23] As of February 11, 2007, Miami Vice had grossed over $36.45 million in rentals.[24]
On August 26, 2008, Universal Studios released Miami Vice on Blu-ray.[25][26]
Response to Miami Vice has been split. On Metacritic it holds a 65 "Generally Favorable Reviews",[27] while on Rotten Tomatoes it holds a 48% "rotten" rating.[28] However, it also holds a markedly higher 67% "fresh" rating from Rotten Tomatoes' Cream of the Crop reviewers.[29]
Miami Vice received positive notices from major publications including Rolling Stone,[30] Empire,[31] Variety,[32] Newsweek,[33] New York,[34] The Village Voice,[35] The Boston Globe,[36] Entertainment Weekly,[37] and film critic Richard Roeper on the television program Ebert & Roeper.[38] New York Times critic Manohla Dargis declared it "glorious entertainment" in her year-end wrap-up and praised its innovative use of digital photography.[39]
The film received negative reviews from The Washington Post[40] and the Los Angeles Times, focusing in part on comparisons with the 1980s series and on the plot.[41]
It was included in the top ten of 2006 by Scott Foundas (LA Weekly) at #7, and by Manohla Dargis at #8.[42] Additionally, in November 2009, the critics of Time Out New York chose Miami Vice as #35 of the fifty best films of the decade, saying:
Writer-director Michael Mann brilliantly rethinks the seminal 1980s TV series on which he made his name. The hi-def videography gives a tactile, scorching sense of the characters’ surroundings, and Colin Farrell and Gong Li’s doomed love affair bears the full tragic brunt of Mann’s mesmerizing on-the-fly narrative.[43]
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