Smokin' Aces (2006)

I love how y'all are calling this movie "guy noir" and acting like it's a movie for guys when I am all girl and this is one of my favorite movies. I just love everything about this flick. It's good fun and the cast is to die for. Y'all need to loosen up a little ;)

Despite a simple premise seemingly rife with possibilities, this fast-moving yet unfocused action thriller bounces around from character to character without any real through-line until it reaches a twist-ending that thinks it's more clever and important than it actually is (as it doesn't even impact anything really). 'Smokin' Aces (2006)' is a film that screams "I'm cool" at every chance it gets but rarely makes more than a whimper, especially when placed in a room with its much more effortlessly stylish peers. Unfortunately, the script features frequent expository dumps that overload the viewer, making it hard to retain any of the information, and the infrequent action is always brief and underwhelming. The movie really isn't fun and it's actually quite cringe-worthy, at times. 4/10

Smokin' Aces (2006): Dir: Joe Carnahan / Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Alicia Keys, Ray Liotta, Andy Garcia, Jeremy Piven: Fast moving action film about "Aces" Isreal whom everyone wants dead. The F.B.I. tracks him down at a high Vegas suite. Director Joe Carnahan does a terrific job at maintaining story lines with graphic violence populating the third act. He previously made Narc, which is another well crafted action thriller surrounding the rights and wrongs of the law. This is not as great a film as Narc, but it's entertaining to boot. Ryan Reynolds plays an F.B.I. officer who learns hard truths about Aces and his relation to an older mobster. It is a great serious performance from Reynolds who witnesses the dishonesty around him but his solution is questionable when he locks himself into a certain room. Alicia Keys is superb as a female hit-man posing as a prostitute to gain access to Isreal's suite. Ray Liotta plays Reynolds partner who enters the building with Reynolds yet meets tragedy. Andy Garcia is strong in key scenes when he arranges the whole assault then attempts to cover up guilty parties. Jeremy Piven plays Buddy "Aces", which is the Ace being smokin' out. The action is fast and fierce but the violence is extreme and too excessive. The film is well crafted and visually appealing for the genre. It regards the reality of one's evil deeds catching up and presenting its penalty. Score: 8 / 10

Overall, this movie wasn't very enjoyable. It felt like the directors never knew what to make of it. Is it a shoot em up, a comedy, a drama, a series of criminal events with a twist; it never could maintain a theme. Additionally there were too many characters and subplots. For all they had going on, you need a slower better paced movie, but this one was trying to be flashy and stylish too. There were a lot of interesting characters, but we never got to know them that well. Jeremy Piven's seemed like it could have been good with a little humor added they never took him that way. Overall, lots of good pieces, lots of interesting characters, lots of potential, but this movie tried to be a little bit of everything and ended up not being much of anything.