Smith film sparks road rage

Scenes from the movie, a sequel to Smith's buddy comedy Bad Boys, are being filmed on a section of the main road between Miami and Miami Beach.

Drivers have been seeing red since producers closed off the road - known as MacArthur Causeway - at the start of the week to allow filming to go undisturbed.

The resulting diversion has led to a normal 15-minute trip between the city and the island increasing to more than an hour.

Resident Robin Statfeld wrote a letter to the Miami Herald to express his outrage at the road closure.

"Apparently those charged with governing and managing our city are so blinded by dollar signs and Hollywood lights that they cannot see how unconscionable it is to close the MacArthur Causeway," Mr Statfeld said.

Government officials approved a four-day closure of the road that carries more than 90,000 cars a day.

They told people living in the area that they would benefit from $20m (£13m) being injected into the local economy from the film's studio Columbia Pictures.

But the move has also meant the creation of long traffic jams with drivers sitting in their cars in the summer heat.

Columbia was said to be spending about $500,000 (£326,000) to cover the costs of the closure.

This has included the hiring of police officers to redirect traffic.

The studio also paid the toll for one of the alternative routes to Miami Beach.

Comedy

The MacArthur Causeway is the main route to South Beach, a mecca for glamour-seekers and sunworshippers.

It has a backdrop scenery of luxury cruise ships and some of Miami's most expensive homes along the main ship channel and bay islands.

Bad Boys 2 is a comedy action thriller that sees Smith - currently starring in Men in Black II - reprise his role as footloose Miami policeman Mike Lowry.

His policeman partner is Marcus Burnett, played by Martin Lawrence, who - as a hen-pecked family man - is the complete opposite to Lowry.

Bad Boys 2 is directed by Michael Bay and is due for release in 2003.