Quick Movie Review: Miami Vice

Just came back from watching the new Miami Vice movie, and the one thing I can say about it right off the bat is that this is the TV series taken to the next level.

Director Michael Mann, who ran the original pop TV series that helped define mid-1980’s culture, takes us back into the world of neon and drugs and sick-money (as in so much money it will make you sick). But we don’t just ease on in followed by a glitzy tour of Miami to show off the film titles with a Jan Hammer beat. No sir, the minute we see "Sonny" and "Rico" at work, we’re in it for the whole ride. And believe me, this is one hell of a roller coaster ride.

Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell do a great job of picking up where Philip Michael Thomas and Don Johnson left off two decades ago. But what makes the movie really good is that it’s not just about these two on the screen. They’re the box office name and draw, but the other actors also get their chance to flesh out the movie. And yes, that includes the steamy scene between Foxx and Naomie Harris, who plays Trudy in a way that the FCC would throw fits in if it was on TV.

Basic story: Sonny and Rico get a call from one of their former informants of a federal investigation gone bad. They get brought in by the FBI to find out who the players are and why they have so much information. In the process, Sonny ends up getting the attention of the female "businesswoman" and renegotiating their arrangements, and Rico is pumping the cartel lieutenant for technical details. They play the role of criminals so well that you have to wonder right up to the last third of the movie if they even know, as Rico says it, "which way is up".

But make no mistake, this IS an R-rated movie, and rightly so! There’s plenty of sex and violence to go around, which are all there to flesh out the realism of the story. Don’t bring your kids thinking that you’re in TV Land all over again. This is "Miami Vice" the way that Michael Mann WANTED to do it.

There is only one thing that I wish they could have brought over from the original TV show, though… and that would be Edward James Olmos to reprise his role as Lieutenant Castillo. Barry Shabaka Henley does a good job of playing the soft-spoken commanding officer who can get things done, but with Olmos you had that feeling that the character COULD bring the wrath of God on you if you didn’t listen to him.

If you remember the TV series, you should have no problem figuring out the key characters. If you’ve never seen the show (and remember it’s BEEN twenty years) just sit back and enjoy the ride.