Miami Vice 2006

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: It's so self-serious at times, it'll prompt you to laugh out loud at moments that aren't supposed to be funny. Which is a total letdown because, theoretically, this is Michael Mann's pure, true vision. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Miami Vice is a dazzler. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: The pacing and proportion of Heat (1995) and the feeling for place and character evident in Collateral (2004) have been tossed aside for a routine plot in which vice cops Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx pose as drug dealers. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The truest thing to say about Miami Vice is that it's an OK picture with some superb things in it. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: Mann is the master of nighttime digital photography, and he fills the screen with stunning images and some intricately choreographed shoot-out scenes that I just loved. Read more

Bob Longino, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Miami Vice is a dark, grainy and heavy drama and so super-serious and smoky thick it could be called Miasma Vice. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: ... it's a little perverse that the big-screen adaptation of Miami Vice, an '80s cop show remembered for its decadent beachfront locales and pastel color scheme, turns out to be the summer's least frivolous movie. Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: Compared with Mann's other films, Miami Vice lacks the slam-bang set pieces of Heat and the human dynamic of Collateral. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The movie is seriously sexy and seriously entertaining. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: While the moviemaking in Miami Vice is impeccable as always, its story finally turns out to be too flimsy a reed to support all of the weight put on it. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: It might be an empty vessel, but it zooms. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Mann knows how to make a movie move, and there are sequences in Miami Vice, such as that initial nightclub rumble, that are like swirling fantasias. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: The film, like its oddly rumbling sky, promises more than it ever delivers. Granted, it can look cool. But more often, as we wait for the lightning that never arrives, it frustrates. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Miami Vice, as entertaining as some of it is, is so cool that it's almost too cool. It takes the sin, and much of the juice, out of vice. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Perhaps had they been given a script, a purpose or a mission, Miami Vice the movie might have been something worthy of the talented Mann's attention. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: The new Miami Vice movie is not designed to leave audiences in a partying mood. On its own terms, though, it's frequently worthy of cheers. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: This is more of a thinking man's action flick -- a small, intense film made on a giant canvas that finds Mann experimenting with and pushing at the boundaries of mainstream filmmaking. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: From start to finish, even when you're not sure what's going on or what's being said, you're pulled deep into its vortex of sultry intrigue and unhinged ferocity. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: Miami Vice delivers the thrills, atmosphere and romance it promises, but it doesn't resonate like major Mann. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. It's a sensational trip -- gorgeous, gaga. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: It offers a good amount of crowd-pleasing action, but the story is convoluted and the heroes are scowling mannequins. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Miami Vice is the last of the predicted summer blockbusters, and it delivers a reasonable amount of popcorn excitement. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: I enjoyed Mr. Mann's new Miami Vice from its first ravishing frame to the last, but I can't say that very much of it made sense -- but then, neither do the daily headlines. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It works as well as it ever did. It works because Mann makes it work. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: As cop movies go, Miami Vice does interesting things with unoriginal material. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: This somber action picture bravely defies expectations and gives us something wholly new. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: It's a measure of Michael Mann's gift as a filmmaker that he manages to make stuff you'd never want to do in real life -- like grinding against Colin Farrell in a sweaty nightclub, or exchanging gunfire with Nazi supremacists -- seem strangely appealing. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: While this Vice isn't in the same league as Mann's Collateral (2004) or Heat (1995), it's a gritty, ultra-dark thriller, and it contains two of the best 'kill shot' scenes in recent years. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Sensual and scary, the movie is so visually textured you feel as though you're brushing against the screen. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Miami Vice isn't perfect, but it is perfectly mesmerizing. Read more

Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine: Mann is good at action, especially when it comes to surprises -- the sudden blossoming of blood behind a gunned-down bad guy, the mighty explosion that we aren't expecting. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: It's business as usual for Mann. Truly terrific. Read more

Brian Lowry, Variety: Vice revels in the creative latitude that an R-rated feature provides without departing from the show's rudimentary structure. Read more

Scott Foundas, Village Voice: In a career marked by an obsession with the intricacies of law enforcement and criminal activity, this may be Mann's most brutally efficient policier yet. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: The worst news about Miami Vice is that Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, replacing Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas in the key roles, don't hold a candle, a flashlight, a freakin' match to the original guys. Read more