Michael Mann

The one that started it all. First feature film from Mann after lots of TV work. The story is a classic one but Mann handles it with a different and beautiful twist, applying a realistic and gritty feel to the ensemble. Great opening scene AND great ending scene, Mann's directing is pitch perfect, the cinematography looks great and what a score from Tangerine Dream ! Best role of Jimmy Caan's career.

WWII Meets Hell. THE KEEP tanked when it got out and received a lot of bad reviews. It's not perfect, but I actually like it for all it's worth. It definitely has a strange atmosphere (thanks to the TD score once again) and some very poetic moments. I heard that Mann didn't have final cut on this and that a lot of footage was cut out at the editing table before the release. Since it's not out on DVD yet, maybe a Director's Cut would help this movie receiving a better reception from a new audience.

Yep, Mann was the first one to introduce Hannibal Lecter to the world, but the world wasn't interested at the time. That first adaptation of Thomas Harris' book RED DRAGON is nevertheless better than Brett "hackboy" Rattner's, even with its faults. Bill Petersen is ok asWill Graham and Tom Noonan is way creepier than Ralph Fiennes as Dolarhyde, but let's admit it, Brian Cox is not as cool as Sir Hopkins as our favourite cannibal. But still, great directing job with a couple of memorable scenes, but the horrible pop-synth music score ruins a bit of the suspense and the atmosphere. Oh well, that was the Miami Vice days...

Mann is back in theaters after six years where he did mostly TV stuff. Nice adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper's book, TLOTM, while not Mann's best work, is still a very enjoyable adventure film, with great action sequences, gorgeous sceneries and beautiful cinematography from Dante Spinotti. Daniel Day-Lewis' performance makes up for a whole lot of it.

Mann's back in the crime genre with a vengeance, with maybe his biggest achievement (with THIEF) of his career. Mann's followers will recognize this one as being a "very improved" remake of L.A. TAKEDOWN, a TV movie that the man directed back in 1989. Here, all the right pieces fall into the right places, a gigantic cast uniting Pacino and De Niro (maybe their best respective parts of the decade) and a great script from Mr Mann, penning a story that holds up solidly in spite of its 3-hour running time. And that shootout scene in the middle is a classic moment. Mann's the Man !!!

Powerful social drama about the Jeffrey Wigand/tobacco scandal controversy. Pacino's back as Lowell Bergman, producer of 60 Minutes, but Russell Crowe steals the show as Wigand with a powerful yet touching performance as Wigand, and watch for Christopher Plummer, portraying a very believable Mike Wallace.

Mann's take on a Mohammed Ali biopic. Well acted and well directed as always but a little bit too indulgent with his subject. No RAGING BULL, but still better than all the Rocky sequels alltogether.

Nice slick thriller where Mann revisits L.A. again. Again, Mann shows that he is a master at creating action sequences and in the meantime makes Tom Cruise actually look like an actor. Good turn from Foxx also, as well as Mark Ruffalo.

Now that was a big disappointment. Was looking forward to Mann's take on his iconic TV series but definitely had problems with it. Now the directing and all the technical stuff was top notch and I welcomed the more gritty and realistic touch of the movie, but Mann's script is too many too much, unnecessarily convoluted and very hard to follow at times. Not only that, the chemistry between Farrell and Fox was not that good and very bad casting of Gong Li as the love interest. She seemed completely lost in all this. First time I've been disappointed by a Mann flick but hey, I'm sure the guy will bounce back !