(2007, 108 min) Smokin' Aces, a mindless and easily forgettable offering from Narc director Joe Carnahan, showcases the assassination of Buddy "Aces" Israel (Jeremy Piven). Israel, an egocentric magician, has pissed off numerous high-ranking mob connections and planned to testify against them through arrangements with the FBI (represented by Ray Liotta and Ryan Reynolds). When the film begins, he is hiding in a guarded hotel penthouse biding his time between heavy drugs and sleazy hookers. When mob-boss Primo Sparazza (Joseph Ruskin) orders Isreal's death, several professional hit-men and women (included in the all-star lineup are Ben Affleck, Peter Berg, Martin Henderson, Nestor Carbonell and scene-stealers Taraji P. Henson and musician Alicia Keys in her first full-length film role) are separately contracted to kill the hopeless magician and return with his heart. Bullets fly in every direction and a bloodbath ensues as the professional assassins compete brutally against one another.
Carnahan's note-worthy cast and colorful Las Vegas-based production design are reminiscent of Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven efforts while the characters, dialog and ultraviolence aspire to be more like an early Tarantino offering (or any of the copious rip-offs that attempted to capitalize on the popularity that followed Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction during the mid '90s). Hasty and almost disorienting editing that appears to be tailored for those with attention deficit disorder and ludicrous plot twists ensure that Smokin' Aces will fall far below the expectations of the average discerning viewer.
Action fans, however, that are willing to ignore the competent but completely unoriginal craftsmanship and the senselessness of the plot may find enough pleasure in the handful of engrossing action sequences to justify a guilty home viewing or two in surround sound.
© TLA Entertainment Group
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