Got a pass for a preview at Long Beach Town Center last week’¦.Not title’¦ R rated (usually means good things) The sheet referenced SWAT, COLLATERAL, TRAINING DAY and WEDDING CRASHERS’¦hmmmm’¦turns out the last one was a red herring. I guessed ‘˜Miami Vice’™’¦I was right’¦yeaaaaa. This was an early cut’¦at least I hope it was. It was digital copy that seemed to be pulled right from the editing bay an hour before’¦the temp track even popped a speaker’¦so I know overall it will look and sound a lot better. Most of it looked like it was shot with a 8mm camera’¦video or film…take your pick. I am being harsh because I know what I wanted’¦..I wanted HEAT mixed with BAD BOYS 2 and the colors and style of CSI:Miami (now there is a movie I would love to see). What I got was a combination of Collateral and Band of the Hand. It’s darker ‘¦grittier’¦grainier than the show it based. No pastels’¦everyone wears socks and everyone is hard’¦and the smell of fear and anger saturated the film. Opening setups took over and hour…that needs more trimming. Sure there are cool boats and Mann’™esque facial stares and skylines’¦but when the principals talk’¦the shaky hand held takes over. Deb summed up some of the basic pacing problems well’¦.’ I know we are supposed believe the made love all night long’¦but do we have to watch the whole thing?’
Basically Crockett (Colin taking his good Swat character even darker) and Tubbs (FOXX adding a smooth deliberate cop to his repertoire) doing their ‘˜Vice’™ thing against a Miami thug when an old informant calls them frantically’¦they drop all, and their team goes after an international drug lord.
Mann’s best stuff to me is when he shows cops that have their shit together’¦Manhunter’¦Heat’¦etc’¦.this film is no exception. The vice team is amazingly tight and competent’¦although we get no background on them. We just jump right in expecting to know everything about everyone already. A high point for me was Elizabeth Rodriguez a very small part as one of the team’¦but has great gun battle moment. You know me …I like stuff I haven’t seen’¦and four things pop to mind’¦A cool case study of what 50mm sniper rifle does to people hiding in a car’¦.a unique view on a suicide’¦and a well filmed sequence on how to smuggle by plane’¦and that gun moment by Elizabeth.
Low points:’¦was too long’¦close-ups were too close…and the heroine was unintelligible’¦A lot of the lines were way to cheesy’¦Other than that it will fall between Collateral and Heat for me’¦If he went the high budget all-film all-color route’¦it would have been his best movie to date. ‘˜Good’™ right now but not ‘˜Summer Good’™