| Film Review | Dana Place |
Smokin
Aces
Jeremy Piven
Andy Garcia
Ryan Reynolds
Ray Liotta
Ben Affleck
Jason Bateman
Directed by: Joe Carnahan
Plot: When a Vegas showman with high level mafia
connections decides to turn states evidence and threatens to
bring down some if the most powerful mobsters in the
country, a call is put out to for the heart of Buddy “Aces”
Israel. The million dollar announcement hits the grapevine
and some of the world’s greatest and most eccentric hit men
come out of the woodwork to take advantage of the offer. It
is a race against time as the FBI agents assigned to protect
him have to get to Buddy before this group of assassins,
bail bondsmen, and just generally psychotic murderers do.
Review: Joe Carnahan puts together an eclectic cast
of characters in this fast paced jumble of violence, gore,
and at times touching moments. This movie is a blast,
especially if you enjoy watching a man sitting on running
chainsaw. The movie is constantly moving and the first hour
or so will convince you that you are watching a frenetic,
edge of your seat chase film complete with cool death
scenes, hyperactive scenes of mayhem and destruction, and
ultra hot killer assassins. This movie is all that and then
it becomes a little more. Joe Carnahan allows his characters
to completely transform into new people right in front of
our eyes, and it is an amazing sight. We watch as a generic
FBI man in Ryan Reynolds gains complexity and depth through
a harrowing experience and a confident showman lose his cool
and become a cracked shell of the man he was just two hours
earlier. Smokin Aces is everything the trailer promises,
with well planned out characters and situations that make
you actually care about even the simplest of caricatures. My
only complaint; while most of this film is witty, fast
paced, and builds on itself scene after scene, the ending
seems to bring the film to a complete halt and completely
changes the tone of the film. All in all though, a very fun,
edge of you seat action film that never drags enough to bore
you. Even the lulls in the action bring great character
moments that a juxtaposed by crazy action sequences.
