Colin Farrell’s come down with another case of tunnel vision.
First it was S.W.A.T. Now it’s Miami Vice.
It was easy for Farrell to replace his TV counterpart, Robert Urich, in S.W.A.T. I mean, who recalls that short-lived show with great fondness?
But Miami Vice served as the template for the modern cop opera, what with its designer-attired tough guys, glossy cinematography and canny use of Top 40 hits. And, unfortunately for Farrell, Don Johnson’s as much identified with the sock-less and stubble-faced Det. Sonny Crocket as William Shatner is as Star Trek’s Capt. James T. Kirk.
So why would Farrell rush into Miami Vice—co-starring Jamie Foxx as Ricardo Tubbs—after S.W.A.T. ?
“The script is great. The director is great. The worst thing about the project is the title, but as a piece in and of itself it’s brilliant,” Farrell told the Chicago Sun-Times in November 2004.
And let’s not forget that the Michael Mann-directed Miami Vice represents Farrell’s best opportunity to reverse the bad luck that the newly sober Irishman’s experienced these past two years. He’s endured five consecutive flops since 2003’s S.W.A.T.
This isn’t your father’s Miami Vice. Mann’s discarded Jan Hammer’s theme, the pastel T-shirts and Crockett’s pet. What remains is a violent thriller executed in the gritty, grainy manner of Mann’s Collateral.
But at almost 2 ½ hours, Miami Vice also is slow, predictable and highly impersonal. And a pre-rehab Farrell—who looks more like an “Achy, Breaky Heart”-era Billy Ray Cyrus than Johnson’s sharply dressed MTV cop —and Foxx do little beyond grimace and speak in police jargon. In short, Farrell won’t make anyone forget Johnson.
Hopefully, Miami Vice doesn’t mark the end of Farrell’s recent attempts to fulfill the promise of Tigerland, which turned him into the hottest unknown since Matthew McConaughey.
Unfortunately, Farrell’s dramatic efforts have gone unnoticed for no fault of his own. A Home At the End of the World only garnered attention for the excising of Farrell’s naughty bits. The equally dull Ask the Dust willingly exposed Farrell’s naughty bits—and those belonging to Salma Hayek—but films that examine Hollywood’s past rarely intrigue anyone other than film buffs. The New World director Terrence Malick seemed more captivated by grass swaying in the wind than Pocahontas’ plight.
Hand it to Farrell, though: he showed great growth as an actor in those films. The sole exception was Alexander, in which he was miscast in Oliver Stone’s sword-and-sandals epic. Not that you could take Farrell seriously, considering he was more Backstreet Boy than fearless warrior thanks to his dyed-blonde tresses.
These flops reveal few care for Farrell when he’s got weightier matters on his mind. Miami Vice won’t change that—its built-in audience guarantees it will do better than S.W.A.T.–considering Farrell’s back in armed-and-ready mode. Perhaps Pride and Glory, his next effort, will go some way to change audience perception of Farrell, assuming we buy him and Edward Norton as brothers and members of a family of cops accused of corruption.
Farrell at least has Woody Allen’s vote of confidence. Allen’s cast Farrell as Ewan McGregor’s brother in his next film. No word yet on whether this is a comedy, but if is, Allen surely will put Farrell’s comic chops to the test. And, based on his delightfully psychotic turn in the Irish Pulp Fiction-ish crime caper Intermission, Farrell should rise to the occasion and prove he’s more than the go-to guy for films based on long-dead TV shows.
The Bottom Line
Miami Vice certainly isn’t the act of a man desperate to revive his flagging fortunes, but it should do just that. Still, with Miami Vice and S.W.A.T. to his name, Farrell now needs to steer clear of any scripts called Hawaii Five-0, Magnum or The Prisoner.
