Smokin' Aces (2007)
Buddy "Aces" Israel: Jeremy Piven
Richard Messner: Ryan Reynolds
Donald Carruthers: Ray Liotta
Stanley Locke: Andy Garcia
Jack Dupree: Ben Affleck
Primo Sparazza: Joseph Ruskin
Georgia Sykes: Alicia Keys
Sharice Watters: Taraji P. Henson
Loretta Wyman: Davenia McFadden
Lazlo Soot: Tommy Flanagan
Victor "Baby Buzz" Padiche: David Proval
"Pistol" Pete Deeks: Peter Berg
Hollis Elmore: Martin Henderson
Rip Reed: Jason Bateman
Bernard "Beanie" Alfonso: Christopher Holley
Sir Ivy: Common
Morris Mecklen: Curtis Armstrong
Hugo Croop: Joel Edgerton
Freeman Hummer: Mike Falkow
Pasquale Acosta: Nester Carbonell
McGarey: George Fisher
Darwin Tremor: Chris Pine
Jeeves Tremor: Kevin Durand
Lester Tremor: Maury Sterling
Universal Pictures presents a film written and directed by Joe Carnahan.
Running Time: 108 minutes
Rated R for strong bloody violence, pervasive language, some nudity, and drug use.
Release Date: January 26, 2007
Review Date: January 28, 2007
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I care not to know the life story of each person that ate at the same McDonald's that I went to last weekend. I'm sure that some are interesting, and some are vibrant, and some are dull, and so on and so forth. But McDonald's is a busy place with billions and billions served. Several hundred of which, no doubt, were last weekend and I don't have the time or patience to hear all of their stories.
On the other hand, Joe Carnahan does. Because there are just as many people gunning for the head (the heart, more specifically) of Buddy "Aces" Israel (Piven) as there were people munching on McDonald's french fries on a Saturday afternoon. Way too many to follow.
Some have gone so far as to say that Carnahan's film is similar in style to Pulp Fiction, with their tangled and connected, similarly themed stories. I have frequently called Pulp Fiction one of my favorite films of all time, and one that I usually pop in once every couple of months. And not once when Ryan Reynolds gave one of his unnecessary, overdramatic, loudly delivered monologues did I think of any part of Tarrantino's 1994 film.
That film was a couple of stories about a solid dozen or so people, none of whom - except for maybe Jules and Vincent - take up any exceptional amount of the film's screen time. Smokin' Aces, which runs about 45 minutes shorter than Pulp Fiction, follows several intricate groups of people who are all paying or being paid to end the life of Buddy Israel - a slimy Vegas magician turned mob informant. Nevermind Israel himself, who has another hitman trying to play the part of one of the members of his entourage - another group of three complicated men. There are also police offers (Reynolds, Liotta) who are headed to Vegas in an effort to make sure none of these people kills Israel. This is all very uncomplicated, right?
In the midst of all this complication, the film never gives one character enough screentime or any reason to be a fan of these people. They're all generally bad people - all either preparing to kill, killing, or being killed with little more motivation or reason than revenge, money, and vice. Had there been as much devotion to character development as opposed to making whatever garbage they were verbally spewing sound stylish, this movie could have had some redeeming value.
Instead, Smokin' Aces promises a mini-blockbuster to heat up the doldrums of January, with an all-star cast and loads of firepower. Instead, it is either overacted or weakly delivered, all snapping underneath the weight of its overcomplicated plot. Maybe Carnahan tries to make up for this with the ridiculous amount of violence - like Hostel amounts of violence leading to a horrenous "attempt" at Oscar-worthy emotion. Most movies that are advertised as "action-packed thrillrides" don't have tragic endings like this. Sheesh.
Thankfully, Smokin' Aces doesn't dip down into Hostel territories of tastelessness or general awfulness as far as filmmaking goes. And it certainly doesn't dip near Oscar-worthy anything, unless Wayne Newton wins "Best Cameo" next February. However, it's unfortunate that when all of these people made a cross country trip to Las Vegas, none of them found a film or acting school along the way.
* (out of ****)