What is Smokin’ Aces? Best answer: A kick ass comedy-action piece that somehow manages to mix a bit of drama into the mayhem. Writer/director Joe Carnahan dropped out of directing Mission: Impossible III and this is the result of that move, and it also serves as an eye opener to what the popular franchise might have been. With only the small budget crime drama Narc to his record Carnahan makes a serious second effort with a film fans of such films as Snatch, The Usual Suspects and the uniquely character driven nature of Pulp Fiction are going to adore. Where the film runs into trouble is in its closing as Carnahan opted to shut it all down and go out on a softer note as opposed to guns blazing like the rest of the movie.
Starring a cast of thousands this flick centers on one man, Buddy “Aces” Israel (Piven), a Las Vegas showman turned mid-level mobster. The deal here is that there is a price on Israel’s head, $1 million. Mob boss Primo Sparazza wants Buddy dead but he also wants his heart. What can I say? Being a mobster is rough business.
On learning this information Buddy makes for Lake Tahoe, penthouse style, where he waits as his sleaze bag lawyer is attempting to broker a deal with the Feds, who consequently are on their way to Tahoe to pick Buddy up before the hit is able to go down. Who’s after him? Enter our ensemble.
First there are our two federal agents played by Ryan Reynolds and Ray Liotta, both are excellent until the ending is thrown on Reynolds’ shoulders and even though the dialogue is weak Reynolds never should have been put in the situation to deliver it. Liotta on the other hand is really good. I am not typically a huge Liotta supporter, but he was spot on in this role and the banter between him and Reynolds was good stuff.
On the hitman side we have a whole slew of names beginning with bounty hunters Jack Dupree (Affleck), “Pistol” Pete Deeks (Berg) and Hollis Elmore (Henderson). Next you have the Tremor brothers who can be summed up as the craziest assassins ever as they wield chainsaws, guns and road flares. Then you have El Freako in Pasquale Acosta “S.A. Gerald Diego” played by that guy from “Suddenly Susan,” you remember that Brooke Shields show. Nevermind. Next is Lazlo Soot a man of many faces, the silent assassin if you will. Then the ladies, the stars of the show… Sharice Watters played by Taraji P. Henson (Hustle & Flow) and Alicia Keys in her feature film debut as Watters’ sidekick Georgia Sykes. These two chicks are bad ass and one of the highlights of the film along with the Tremor brothers. Taraji uses a gun in this movie that would blow the side off of a building, it is a sight to behold.
All of these hitmen and the Feds are merging at once on this fancy little hotel in Lake Tahoe and suffice to say the shit is going to hit the fan in a major way. Blood, bullets and a little more blood splash the screen as the story not only offers up pieces of violence it also makes a subtle attempt at tying things together with a common theme. Personally I had to see it twice to take notice of everything since the first time I was so taken in by the violence and the second time I was able to focus a little more on the story. However, even a second time, the theme Carnahan is pushing isn’t extremely heavy and the ending really deserved to be far more of a punch in the face than what it was.
Overall, Smokin’ Aces is a cool movie with some outstanding performances mainly by Keys, Henson, the boys playing the Tremor brothers (Chris Pine, Kevin Durand and Maury Sterling) and then I should be sure to mention Jason Bateman who keeps popping up everywhere. Here he plays a strung out, STD ridden loser sitting in a hotel room wearing a thong while barking out orders. Trust me, it’s priceless and his two scenes are worth admission alone.
Smokin’ Aces is not a perfect piece, but I feel Carnahan is a director that is one day going to bring us something really special and this just might be the final bump before we get it.
