‘Miami Vice’ returns, but doesn't look back

Challenging films have been Mann’s passion, which explains his relatively modest output — nine films in the 25 years since he made his big-screen debut with the James Caan heist tale “Thief.”

Mann, 63, chooses difficult subjects, often violent crime sagas such as “Collateral,” “Heat” and “Manhunter,” the first adaptation about serial killer Hannibal Lecter. Other Mann films include the French and Indian War epic “The Last of the Mohicans” and the tobacco-industry thriller “The Insider,” which earned him Academy Awards nominations for best picture, director and screenplay.

“I’ve never met a director as intense or even crazy as Michael Mann,” said Gong Li, co-starring in “Miami Vice” as a money launderer who strikes up a romance with Farrell’s Crockett. “He’s crazy about the movies, and he has — I don’t know if it’s some kind of special talent or innate ability or what — but he has a way of seeing things from a different angle or really finding new ways to do things.”

NBC VIDEO Colin Farrell July 25: "Matt Lauer talks to Colin Farrell about his role in the movie, "Miami Vice," his two-year-old son and life since rehab. Today Show Entertainment

Mann is a compulsive filmmaker, writing scripts, often operating the camera himself, and constantly experimenting with technology such as the high-definition digital photography he used on “Miami Vice.”

He has a rare talent for mixing suspense and explosive action with meaningful stories and full-bodied characters. Aiming for character depth and authenticity, Mann put his actors through tough paces, sending his stars out on training exercises with real undercover agents and even requiring co-stars who never fired a weapon in “Miami Vice” to put in practice on the shooting range.

Not taking no for an answer
“We all know he can handle an action sequence,” Farrell said. “But unless it’s backed up with some human drama, unless you have some kind of emotional investment in the characters, he understands that the validity of doing big-scale things isn’t there unless you really do care about the characters that you’re watching.”

An English major in college, Chicago native Mann settled on a directing career after taking a film class. He studied at the London Film School and began writing for such TV series as “Police Story” and “Starsky and Hutch” in the 1970s.

Mann always was aiming for the big screen, though. He signed on as executive producer on “Miami Vice” amid the frustration of struggling to get movie projects off the ground. With a bold, cinematic script for the pilot by series creator Anthony Yerkovich, Mann discovered he could tell mini-movies each week that defied traditional TV restrictions.

“We just started making these wild shows in seven days,” Mann said. “If there was something you weren’t supposed to be able to do, that was the big attraction. It’s episodic television. You can’t race boats down the inland waterway and then have one jump over a bridge. Yeah, who says you can’t? I even got Miles Davis to be a guest star, then Lee Iacocca, then Don King. We just did it all.”

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