A MANN'S WORLD
This article is from our archives and has not been updated and integrated with our "new" site yet... Even so, it's still awesome - so keep reading!
Published on Fri, Jul 28, 2006
By: The LACar Editorial Staff
A MANN'S WORLD
By ZORAN SEGINA And TOMMY GRAFMAN
The distance between Key West, the southernmost part of Florida and Havana, is approximately ninety nautical miles over unpredictable waters of the Straits of Florida. If you start from Miami this is another hundred miles. So when the inviting eyes of your current romantic interest - who happens to be a chief accountant for the big narcotraficante - propose that the two of you share mojitos somewhere near Malecon - as in Cuba - you got some serious driving to do.
If you are Colin Farrell, a Miami cop on an undercover assignment for the feds, you just hop behind the wheel of Mojo, a twin-hull superboat you ordinarily use for smuggling drugs, and point South. At full throttle - roughly eighty knots (that is nautical miles per hour, for you landlubbers) - it will take you about an hour and change to get there. In the real world, you would not be setting romantic music in the open cockpit of your boat because at eighty knots, the surrounding wind is at the hurricane strength - albeit a category one. Moreover, although your romantic interest and you are going to Havana to have mojitos, both of you will arrive there shaken and stirred, courtesy of the swell in the Straits. Yours truly had a chance to cover the very same aforementioned body of water this spring in a massive seventy thousand ton cruise ship at fifteen knots, and this thing was rolling with all the stabilizers deployed.
In the real life the fun actually begins on the way back. Any speedboat steaming at eighty knots through the Straits - en route to Miami - is to attract attention of enough three- letter federal agencies to fill a dictionary. ICE, FBI, ATF, DEA, to name a few, would really like to know where you have been, what you did there and, most importantly - whether mojitos were good. If they don't touch you, your date knows you are working for the feds, ergo your cover is blown.
For that reason alone Miami Vice should be enjoyed as a fairy tale - boy meets girl - type of flick, despite the fact that dozens of people meet gruesome, and rather graphic, ends.
While titillating us with a sweet Ferrari 430, there are no car chases to be had. After all, true professionals - both on the criminal and law enforcement side - avoid attracting attention if at all possible. There is, however, romance galore, including scenes with beautiful people taking in the shower, so the moviegoers of both genders will enjoy the story.
Not a bad fantasy at all.
- Zoran Segina
Don't even think of comparing the '80's TV show Miami Vice, to the Miami Vice (Universal Pictures) movie. Quite possibly the worst part about the movie is the unnecessary name "Miami Vice"; it just brings back too many memories of episodes saturated in pastel suites, perfectly clear blue skies, politically correct dialogue, and a crocodile on a boat.
The cinematic version is something very different. Unlike its namesake, this picture is intense, dark, edgy and visually stunning. The movie is written and directed by Michael Mann (Heat and Collateral), and Stars Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx as the new Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs.
The premise has Crockett and Tubbs going undercover in Miami to find a FBI leak that's causing multiple police and FBI deaths. They act as high-risk drug transportation experts (international traffickers) in order to infiltrate a drug lord's operation, which they believe is behind the murders. There is also a star-crossed love story between Crockett and Isabella, the associate of the drug lord, played by Gong Li (Memoirs Of A Geisha).
One thing you do get from the new and improved Miami Vice is the visuals. The stunning Miami skyline, awe inspiring sunsets, storm brewing cumulus, deep blue ocean water, and white beach sands, and other exotic locales are all brought to life by Mann and cinematographer Dion Beebe.
Michael Mann - Director
When seeing Miami Vice, you notice that Crockett and Tubbs seem to use every means of transportation known in the trade. Fortunately, the audience gets to experience the thrills of Crockett's Ferrari 430, and then a sports plane flown by Tubbs, as well as fantastic high-speed Go-fast boats.
One good thing that does carry over from the TV show is the music soundtrack. When watching the movie, you realize how perfect the songs work, including a cover of Phil Collins song "In The Air Tonight by Nonpoint. Some of the other artists contributing to the soundtrack are: Moby F/Patti LaBelle, Mogwai, Nina Simone, India.Arie, Emilio Estefan and many more. Of course, the album is available at iTunes.
The refreshing libations served up in the movie go along perfectly with the coolness of the picture. Sonny Crockett's love of mojitos in this movie will only reinforce mojitos as the coolest drink of the summer.
Coming in at just over 2 hrs and rated R (for nudity, violence, profanity and sexual situations), with visually stimulating scenes, amazing vehicles, and intense action, Miami Vice will undoubtedly be one of this summer's hottest movies.
- Tommy Grafman
For more on Miami Vice go to www.miamivice.com
Det. Sonny Crocket - Colin Farrell Det. Ricardo Tubbs - Jamie Foxx Isabella - Gong Li Trudy Jolpin - Naomie Harris FBI Agent Fujima- Ciaran Hinds Zito - Justin Theroux Castillo - Barry Shabaka Henley Montoya - Luis Tosar Jose Yero- John Ortiz Gina Callabrese- Elizabeth Rodriguez Switek - Domenick Lombardozzi Director: Michael Mann Screenwriter: Michael Mann Based on the TV Series Created By: Anthony Yerkovich Producers: Michael Mann and Pieter Jan Brugge Executive Producer: Anthony Yerkovich Director of Photography: Dion Beebe Production Designer: Victor Kempster Editors: William Goldenberg and Paul Rubell MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, language and some sexual content Release Date: July 28, 2006
