Smokin’ Aces
Been looking forward to seeing this one for quite some time. I went in expecting an easy-viewing shoot-em-up along the lines of Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, but the reality was quite a bit more complex. Immediately immersed into a multitudinous array of characters, plots and sub-plots, you are focused intensely on the fast-paced dialogue and the character development over the first hour-or-so of the film. Sometimes it feels like Sin City with the sectional roles of character stories, without the graces of being identifiable separate stories.
Nonetheless, once the action really gets going, its a roller coaster of blood, blasphemy, bad jokes, boobs, big guns and bullets. Essentially a great combination!
What it lacks in outright class, it makes up for in raw action. While it seems a little too complex at the beginning, its all wrapped up nicely in the final twenty or thirty minutes. Its an undoubtedly slick, enjoyable film for those of us that enjoy the ’sit down, grab some popcorn’ format.
It’s got a star cast that really keeps you interested. Ryan Reynolds and Ray Liotta as the Feds. Andy Garcia in the top-dog role. Jeremy Piven as the Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant - Buddy ‘Aces’ Israel. Nestor Carbonell as the cold-blooded Pasquale Acosta. Ben Affleck as the sleazy, pool-hustling Jack Dupree.
It is however, Alicia Keys (in her first big movie role) that steals the show as the smokin’ hot hit-woman, teamed up with the maybe-just-a-bit-lesbian partner (in crime) who just so happens to cover her back - with a .50 calibre rifle from the windows of adjacent buildings. Hot. And awesome.
Its got a few quirks and some great scenes.. Darwin Tremor manipulating Dupree’s mouth was hilarious in a sick way.. and quotes like ‘Damn girl, you just went from Beyoncé to Bigfoot in less than 6 hours’ makes this one worth the 109 minutes. One I think would most definitely benefit from a second sitting.
