Originally Posted by
SteyrAUG
So what am I missing. Admittedly I barely remember this one except it being pretty bad.
Directed byPaul Michael Glaser
Written byLeo Garen
Jack Baran
Produced byMichael Rauch
Those are your problems right there. Mann was one of two production companies which means they basically put up the cash.
Production
companies
Delph V Productions
Michael Mann Productions
I'd be willing to be the big reason it sucked is because Paul Michael Glaser directed it.
But again, don't think I'm a huge fanboy who see's no wrong. LA Takedown was pretty bad. Also once he started dropping powerhouse films, people began to see his earlier films as more brilliant than they actually were.
I appreciate the gun handling in Thief, but it wasn't a brilliant film. It was good, not brilliant. Manhunter? Didn't even know it existed until I decided to look into earlier Mann films and it was ok, but Silence of the Lambs still blew it away. Everyone loved Last of the Mohican's and it's probably a great film, but it personally didn't move me. Heat (besides the shows like Miami Vice) put Mann on the map. That is when I first took notice of his films.
I dug most of his tv shows from Miami Vice, Crime Story and even Vega$. Police Woman, Police Story and Starsky and Hutch of course kicked retro ass but I had no idea Mann was involved in any of those.
Never saw Ali, couldn't buy Will Smith in the role and mostly just didn't care. Collateral was a good film, not perfect and far from brilliant but I enjoy it. Public Enemies is the only other Mann film to rival Heat, he really was in his element and got to do all the landscapes and lightscapes that he is famous for and quite honestly light and reflected light is almost his signature. Which is a shame because again Miami is basically neon city and he could have gone crazy if he could have gotten his act together.
But actors hurt it more than anything, they all were terrible. Colin Farrel is awful in almost everything he does. Jamie Fox is talented but I didn't really buy him as a Miami vice cop. I think Denzel could have been a very credible Tubbs but then you'd need to find a serious actor for Sonny Crockett that wouldn't be constantly overshadowed by Denzel. Ghetto Trudy and Gina were the worst, they could have gone with almost any other actresses and done better. Mann should have also written a new storyline relevant to the times, he tried but seriously aryan bikers? Give me a F'ing break. Ironically Depp "might" have been able to pull off Sonny Crockett.
Even worse was many of the firearm choices which classically is his strong suit. They had a guy on a Barrett .50 doing Carlos Hathcock shit and it was ridiculous.