While I have major McConaughey backlash, I have to agree that he would have been better cast in the role of a south Florida redneck-turned-cop-playing-slick-drugdealer. (I note in the credits that Farrell has
two dialect coaches.
Shoot. Give me 3 months to grow out a mullet, and I'll save y'all a buncha money...)
Truth is, we don't have many decent early-to-mid-thirties American actors for the part that would be believable.
Mann used to be excellent at rounding up interesting talent for his stuff. Dennis Farina (who would have been an excellent Lt. Castillo) was great in "Manhunter" and "Crime Story". Stephen Lang made an interesting foil, kind of a wiseguy. William Peterson owes his start to Mann's stuff.
Why can't he get more new talent like he used to? [/whine]
I, too, am afraid of what "modern" music will infect the movie. Mann was all about stylistic overtone (check out the tinted light effects in "Manhunter"-- blue equals safe.), and I don't think he'll forget that.
Regarding guns-- I predict that you will NOT see Glocks in the main characters' holsters. You will NOT see the able women cops carrying the over-done Desert Eagles in raids.
I note that
Mick Gould is the technical advisor. This is a
good thing, as he was the tech advisor in "Heat", and "Ronin." (and, for that matter, "The Long Kiss Goodnight.") Of that list, of course, only "Heat" matters.