Smokin' Aces (Carnahan, 2007)

[shariqq]

So, how is it?

[kaytee]

All I am going to say is that the end was a sell out. Otherwise very gory and bloody all around. Too stylish for its own good. An average experience.

[X.]

What a clever little film this turned out to be! A lot of people (critics and audiences) have called it Tarantino-esque, but that’s an unfair label. This is Carnahan territory -- themes of loyalty and friendship from “Narc” show up here again.

The plot and characters can come off as caricatures, and the dialogue sometimes dips in Action Movie 101 (CIA Director: "Buddy Israel is not just essential to this case. He IS the case!") but Carnahan's intention is clear from the get-go: strap in for the ride, it's gonna be a wild one.

Ultra-violent, darkly comical, with a warm gooey center of classic Hollywood archetypes, "Smokin' Aces" is neo-noir done through the filters of modern pop culture. A dazzling, expressionistic film featuring awesome ugly-beautiful imagery. Interestingly, the "plot conceit" will be very familiar to those who’ve seen the Carnahan BMW short "Ticker." May not be much now, I'm sure the film will get its due in time.

[madali]

Smokin' Aces (2007)
IMDB Link

Here is what I would have done to “Smokin’ Aces” if I was a studio executive responsible for this movie. I’d have cut around 30 minutes of the movie, forced the director to re-shoot the ending, and brought in someone to re-write the script to make it simpler.

Yeah, I’d probably wouldn’t win 2007’s Coolest Person Alive, but it would make this a much better movie. “Smokin’ Aces” is about several assassins going after Buddy Ace, a mob guy, to get the one million bounty on his head. At the same time, the cops have to prevent him from dying because he is going to testify against a bigger mob boss. This would seem like it would be fun, but the movie tries to go in too many directions. We have the Guy Ritchie influence, where scenes freeze and we have people’s names under them. When this happens fifty times, then you know you won’t remember their names anyway, so what’s the point?

Extra points for some awesome and bloody action scenes, but also minus points for a shit ending (WITH A TWIST!!! YAY! Another fucking twist ending!)

3/5