When Miami detectives Crockett and Tubbs (Farrell and Foxx) stumble into a major drug operation, they go deep undercover as traffickers, jetting back and forth to South America to transport goods for dealer Yero and his boss Montoya (Ortiz and Tosar). But there's a mole somewhere, so their captain (Henley) and a spineless Fed (Hinds) have their doubts. Then Crocket falls for Montoya's wife (Gong). And their colleague Trudy (Harris), Tubbs' girlfriend, is abducted by racists on the receiving end of the drugs. It's going to get very messy.

The film looks gorgeous, with stunning cinematography by Dion Beebe and superb editing by William Goldenberg and Paul Rubell. Mann directs each scene with a seductive fluidity that catches emotions and attitude, and makes the action earthy and shockingly real. And the tension between the characters is palpable--from attraction and respect to loathing and jealousy.

So it's surprising how essentially shallow the film is. All of these things are useful for the plot, but never add character development. The people in the story are just pretty set dressing. Even with thoughtful performances from Farrell and Gong, and a steely turn from Foxx, there's just nothing that draws us in beyond a vague interest in seeing the complex story play out.

Like the TV show, the film is dark and edgy. There's no 1980s kitsch and only hints of that distinctive Jan Hammer sound in John Murphy's score. And there are also two kaleidoscopic sex interludes, both involving steamy showers. But Mann never establishes a singular point of view; he skips around to tell the story from all sides, eliminating any mystery while building up the tension as things go seriously wrong.

As it progresses, dialog that would seem brilliant on the page becomes meaningless in the dense sound mix. So the film turns dull and tedious. It's just an endless series of deals and plots and betrayals and aching glances. Cool to look at, but there's nothing to it.

themes, violence, language, sexuality

26.Jul.06