Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Gong Li
Directed by Michael Mann

Although it clearly falls short of Collateral's magnificence, the more I thought about Michael Mann's latest effort, Miami Vice, the more good things appear to balance out the bad. Supposedly based on Anthony Yerkovich's popular 80's TV show of the same name, the only thing the film has in common with the glitter of television series is the presence of Miami police detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs. Miami Vice, the film, is a dark and morbidly wrenching look inside the work of narcotics officers who believe in something larger than themselves.

It is always nighttime with the sky on the verge of storm in Miami, perhaps metaphorically so. And without any prelude at all audiences are immediately, and quite abruptly, thrust deep into the depths and consequences of flirting with the drug trade. Amidst the maddening cinematographic cacophony of strange angles, too-close ups and overly shifty hand-held shots, circumstances of the plot fall into place and land Crockett and Tubbs an undercover gig as drug traffickers. The film wastes no time getting to the point, and the effect the opening creates is that we are seeing a specific chunk of time from Crockett and Tubbs' life without a clean and concise beginning and end, because quite frankly in real life law enforcement definitely isn't open and shut like in Hollywood. Seemingly disjointed at times, audiences better keep their craniums powered on in order to be able to piece together the many threads of the main plot, but it is doable.

Accompanied by a pumping soundtrack, Miami Vice had the potential to be a blockbuster with brains but was marred filmmakers' perplexing need to insert some romantic angle into every film on Earth. That would be fine if Sonny Crockett's romancing of Isabella, a drug lord's trusted accountant played by Gong Li, and Tubbs' relationship with a fellow officer amounted to anything but they don't, these are merely insignificant events that kill time. Nevertheless, the presence of Gong Li, who receives third billing, is welcome. Her role as Isabella, with significant and substantial dialogue lines and as a main player in a Latin American drug dealing heirarchy is a commendable departure from the usual passive creatures somehow attached to some Chinese crime boss in New York City that Asian women are almost always cast as.

If you're looking for action, Miami Vice earns an R rating with its no-BS approach to tactical maneuvers and officers who don't negotiate with bad guys who are pointing weapons at them. At nearly 2 and 1/2 hours, you certainly get your money's worth of film. A satisfying collection of eye-candy cars, boats and aircraft including the Ferrari F430 Spider, Bentley Continental GT and a breathtakingly beautiful white BMW 6 Series Coupe are also featured.