7. Miami Vice
Michael Mann directing an up to date version of the coolest 80's cop show starring Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell had to be great, surely? Mann always made the coolest looking films and always found a way to make the crime genre interesting - he was the perfect choice to direct the movie, he even worked on the tv series when it was originally aired. Jamie Foxx's star had never been brighter coming off the back of acclaimed performances in Ray and Collateral. Farrell, too, had just given his best and most emotionally complex performance in Terrence Malick's beautiful The New World. The stars seemed to be aligning for a great crime thriller that would be cool, witty and stylish, but Mann failed to deliver any of that. Foxx and Farrell have no camaraderie or chemistry between them and the whole thing is a grim affair with smiles and quip's being a rarity. Despite working on the series, Mann didn't see just what made it great. There was no sense of fun or cool about the film. Miami is clearly just a setting for the film and it is never allowed to come alive and could have been set in any major American city. It's not just how it is lesser than the television series, it's amongst the worst work for all the talent involved. Colin Farrell's charm, humour and charisma is nowhere to be seen as the movie flounders around Crockett's relationship with Gong Li's Isabella. It's amazing how unlikable the film is, there's no cool soundtrack or one-liners and it couldn't feel less like Miami Vice.