Time Is Luck: an Analysis of Miami Vice Essay Example

Films use a variety of methods to illustrate both the personality of characters and the changes that they undergo. The two main ways a film can accomplish this are through visually depicting that change through certain cinematographic means or through more direct means such as dialog and intonation. The best scenes are those that carefully blend both methods in order to craft complex characters and show their development. The scene “Time is Luck” in Miami Vice is a great example of such. The scene is a pivotal one to the film in that through its combination of both methods the audience truly starts to see the conflict that will drive the remainder of the action: Jose's suspicion of Tubbs and Crockett. The specific dialogue and hushed tones both serve to increase the audience's ability to perceive what is going on. While this is happening, the film also uses visual effects such as lighting and sound for the purpose of reinforcing what the viewer is starting to gather through speech. An analysis of this scene will give an in depth look at the spectacular way in which the film is able to guide the audience's thought with regard to the characters. Though Jose has always been suspicious of the two agents, Tubbs and Crockett, it in this scene he comes to distrust them more than just with the normal skepticism that a position as intelligence adviser to a trans-national drug lord demands. This new stance towards the pair is put forth rather clearly through Jose's speech. The first hint of suspicion is evidenced when the group discusses the new drug run. Breaking up dialogue into its sub-categories will allow for the best examination of this exchange and how it is that it effectively communicates to the audience the doubt that Jose feels about the legitimacy of the duo. The text of a scene is just the words on the page, but when combined with the line reading and the subtext, the audience is given a complex means of evaluating character behavior and