Miami Vice

"Miami Vice" tries so hard to be gritty, hip, and cool that it ends up falling short on all counts. I had been skeptical about the movie a few months ago, then started getting excited about it as more previews came out. Plus, Michael Mann movies are usually fairly stellar events. In the end, I left less than impressed.

This, in no way, is a parody of the hit 1980's TV show. Instead, this is a contemporary take on two undercover cops trying to bring down bad guys from the inside. Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) are back in full force working to infiltrate a Colombian drug dealer's outfit by posing as drug runners. Why they take this case if somewhat blurry from the start, but it starts the story off pretty quickly. They easily convince the major boss that they can be trusted, and pull off a few nifty jobs. This leads to bigger deals, but also pulls them in deeper, especially Crockett who has fallen for the Chinese-Cuban woman helping the bad guy run his business. Eventually, Crockett isn't sure which side he's on.

After evidence of Crockett's trysts with the woman are brought to the attention of the Boss, the tables quickly turn against both undercover cops. Soon, Tubbs' girlfriend is kidnapped, again for some unknown reason other than to give Jamie Foxx a stronger storyline. There's a shootout, and a couple cars explode. Beyond that, "Miami Vice" was surprisingly lacking in action. If anything, more attention is given to the love interests than to making an action film. This was especially disappointing.

A movie that focused solely on Farrell or Foxx would have been much more solid than trying to divide our attention. Granted, that can't happen in a buddy movie, but we rarely get to see these guys working together. Both actors are solid, the scenery is excellent, and the boats and cars are sweet. Unfortunately, the story is sorely lacking in character development, depth, and action. It's rentable at best. I give it a C.

"Miami Vice" is rated R with a running time of 135 minutes.