People are voting emotionally.

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Michael Mann's Miami Vice is a lot of things. Hypnotic, sedated mood piece. Thrumming, rhythmic action picture. Deeply romantic. More going on underneath it's surface than what you see onscreen. Masterful crime piece. Showcase for digitally shot film. Restless, nocturnal urban dream. One thing it is decidedly not, however, is anything similar to the bright 'n sunny, pastel suited 80's cable TV show of the same name, also pioneered by Mann, at a more constricted and likely very different point in his career. A lot can be said for the show though, it's instantly iconic and was one among a stable of crimeprimetime (The Equalizer and Crime Story did their part as well) to give many actors their break, actors who we take for granted as stars today. Mann's film version is a different beast entirely, a likely reason for the uneasy audience reception. Let's be clear: it's one of the best films of the last few decades. Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx make a deliberately moodier, more dangerous Ricardo and Tubbs, and their high stakes undercover work is set against an austerely fatalistic Miami that bares little resemblance to travel brochures, let alone the tv show many were used to. Their story starts one of two ways, depending on whether or not you view the extended director's cut, which is the version I'd choose as it sets up tone before throwing you into a hectic nightclub sting operation they've got going, which is hastily interrupted by the exposure of a CI snitch (John Hawkes in a haunting cameo). This sets them on course to take down a powerful Cuban drug syndicate run by a scarily calm Luis Tosar and hotheaded maverick John Ortiz. Farrell gets involved with a girl from their fold, of course (Gong Li is a vision), a romance that has grown on me over the years, while Foxx is involved with beautiful fellow cop Naomie Harris, yielding heart wrenching moments in the final act. Darting in and out of the story as well are Tom Towles, Justin Theroux, Isaach De Bánkole, Eddie Marsan, Barry Shabaka Henley, Tony Curran and Ciaran Hinds, all vital cogs in a well oiled, momentous machine that doesn't drop it's pulse for a second. Composer John Murphy piles on the mood with his mournful score, highlighting evening boat-rides, shadowy shoot outs and outdoor nightclubs with a top tier soundscape, while cinematographer Dion Beebe works tirelessly to get shot after shot looking mint, not an easy task with a film this energetic and particularly lit. From start to finish it's to the point as well, Mann has no interest in useless exposition, mapped out play by plays or cheesy moments. Everything careens along at a realistic pace and you're on your own if you can't keep up or make sense of the off the cuff cop jargon. There's stillness too though, in a torn up Farrell watching his love disappear on the horizon, Foxx looking on from beside a hospital bed or simply either of them glowering out at the skyline from a rooftop pulpit before things Heat up. Like I said, do the extended version and you'll get that terrific opener to set you up, instead of being thrown in the deep end right off the bat. Either way though, Miami Vice is one for the ages.

Miami Vice (2006) starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, portraying their roles of the popular 1980's television series. Farrell takes over playing the role of undercover cop Sonny Crockett, who works with his partner Ricardo Tubbs to dissolve into a South American drug smuggling operation. Well put into the film, and together both characters risk their lives to discover how some blew the cover on a crucial FBI operation. But as they venture deeper and deeper into a jungle of evil, posing as professional smugglers, they run the risk of losing their moral compasses along the way. After a tense meeting with a nervous drug dealer named Jose Yero (John Ortiz), they're taken all the way to an encounter with the cartel's Colombian prince of darkness. The chemistry between Farrell and Foxx isn't as great as it could have been, or perhaps that is how it was meant to be portrayed, as it did not come off as natural and at times forced.Within the film Miami Vice starts off relatively slow but becomes a better film and more entertaining as the films goes on, though with a predictable and typical ending we have seen before. Nothing much stands out in this film as it isn't as stylish or over the top with action as advertised. More so a slow paced drama than an exciting and thrilling action thriller. Containing some confusing and overlong scenes adding noting much. With a very large and unnecessary budget of $135 million with only making $163 million worldwide, we are wondered why this film needed a budget of this large, causing a massive flop, and receiving more negative and disappointing reviews.

Whenever Michael Mann is directing a movie, his films suffer from the same problems (usually). Heat, Public Enemies, and ... Miami Vice.He never quite develops the characters in a way that the audience knows (or even cares) who they are. The dialogue in most of his films ... what is wrong with it? The dialogue is so subdued that you can barely hear what they're saying part of the time. The plot ... it just sort of meanders. Great music, very stylish scenes, good acting ... but in typical Mann fashion, all that gets muddled by his directorial style.

Before he became a well-known director to such classic film as "The Last of the Mohicans", "Heat" and "The Insider", director Michael Mann's very earliest filmography was when he served as executive producer of one of the best crime-dramas the the 1980's had in store at the time, the always iconic "Miami Vice". It was a classic series that handled the style and substance quite proportionately. In 2006, Mann has returned to his early roots in a movie adaptation to the classic 1980's series self-evaluating what he's been taught to him over the past few years since the series cancelled in 1990. After watching the movie, there are a few things that didn't sit with me very well and one of the many gripes I had with this adaptation to the series was that at two hours and fifteen minutes, it goes on for much too long. If that's bad enough, it's not only too long, it is also quite hard to decipher what the plot is and at times it becomes very confusing at times. Mann is easily at fault here because he also handled the script as well. When scenes tend to look conventional, it's handled with a complete lack of a formal standpoint. He knows exactly which scenes needs more focus and which ones need to move forward. His scripts usually go beyond sublime, but it reflects just how it reflects towards its audience. And from Mann the performances are what keeps us intrigued. In the case of this movie, the principal characters (Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx) are not the once that provide the best characters in the film who replace Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as Detectives James "Sonny" Crockett and Rico Tubbs who are up to their dangerous anti-drug initiatives. While Foxx gives his all even though his demands are more subtle than crime-fighting partner Farrell. Farrell can't seem to measure up to the more suave performance Johnson portrayed when played Sonny Crockett in the series. Where's Jeff Bridges when you needed him?The supporting players are the once that dominate in their limited screen time and they're the ones who everyone wants to see more of. Barry Shabaka Henley as Sonny and Rico's superior Lt. Castillo (originally played by Edward James Olmos) looks very imposing and fearful, a man you simply don't want to anger with, with the exception of his sensitive eyes. Meanwhile, Luis Tosar who plays Montoya is the polar opposite to Castillo. He is a kingpin who dresses stylistically with a polite manner and a beard, but once again the eyes tell a different story as he's anything but a harmless man on the wrong side of the law. We can see something disturbing about him with those cold piercing eyes. His words from mouth about giving best regards to your family is sign that danger is lurking around. Mann really brings a very interesting perspective to the Montoya character, the kingpin our heroes want to defeat.In most movies,the most evil characters are cunning and colourful. In this movie, it's too laid-back and not very exhilarating. Montoya and his sultry girlfriend Isabella ((Gong Li) are in bed together, with his laptop going over their strategy of who to kill and the time it will be done. The feeling of discomfort comes into effect in Montoya's circle as people were coming into the organization with an over-the-top level of perversity. Montoya's loyal stooge Yero (John Ortiz) was a real piece of work as a grimacing,threatening,jokingly convincing evil-doer. The most noteworthy casting comes from Gong Li. Sure her English is not her best quality and that's understanding, but how she says her lines will make you break into a cold sweat. Sure she's running a South American drug cartel making her an outlaw, but her seductive manipulation towards Sonny is enough to make glasses fog up from the heat. Sure the there have been several chilling female antagonists, but Gong succeeds in keeping it powerful and only her vulnerability is shown through brief flashes. You are crazy if you mess with her mind.The story starts off as a sting operation situated at a nightclub and then it turns into an undercover job going horribly bad. An informant kills himself by getting run over by a truck and how does Mann handle the situation? While refraining from using shaky camera work or thrilling us with gore and carnage, he lets the truck move on with a trail of blood paving the lanes. Then we see baddies killing off people with their ammo towards people in their cars. By filming the scene in the car adds a more personal touch to the film. The cinematography goes way beyond picturesque. When the motorboat coming in from Havana is likely to put you in a romantic view, even for only ten seconds. There's a lot of disparate entities that's happening in "Miami Vice". The scenes involving Sonny and Isabella are just steamy fillers. There's a crime story happening, but it doesn't have much going for it and by the last minutes of the film, it doesn't hold together very well. Film critics have been overfed with a cornucopia of junk. But to see a person who knows the ins-and-outs of a film like this one went way overboard in self-praising himself for it. What I have to say is that it is an average film with some good and bad things about it.