Smokin' Aces (DVD)Staring Jeremy Piven, Alicia Keys, Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck, & Taraji Henson
A single playing card - no matter what the suit, no matter what the color, no matter if it's got a joker on it or game rules - is two sided. If it falls, it will land on one of two sides. It will never stand up alone. This is the way "Smokin' Aces" evolves. From a particularly good eared, two-dimensional script, the characters and their situations fall heavily to the ground. With a whole lot of drive, a few original traits, and completely no audience empathy or appreciation, the ensemble, which is all too big to begin with, kicks ass, but we could care less.
However, there is one set of killers out to assassinate Vegas-rich Buddy "Aces" Israel (Jeremy Piven), and that is the female contract killers, Georgia Skye and Sharice Watters, played by singer Alicia Keys and "Hustle & Flow's" Taraji Henson. Keys delivers with on-time attitude and brings life and attractiveness to her character, whereas the other actors just deliver their lines. Henson is the key to Key's prosperity as a reasonable character. The duo are friends, and Sharice cares deeply for Georgia, which brings some humanity to the movie.
What's the conflict? It's simple. Kill Israel. Who are the characters? Well, there's a ton of them, played by Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds, Andy Garcia, Ray Liota, Common, and the list goes on. What happens? A lot and not all at the same time. The idea was present but the delivery was all wrong. Reynolds, Garcia and Liota are at a career low. Their lines are fast and important which is a terrible mix, and they're not having much fun - Garcia especially. He is a lame duck in the film.
"Smokin' Aces" is clearly not a movie for a sappy friendship to bud either - it's a guy's movie, a shoot-you-in-the-face, blood-thirsty, action extravaganza. Or it should have been. For like the card trying to stand, it falls. Director and screenwriter, Joe Carnahan, presents us with a situation, but instead of showing it to us, he tells us. Multiple characters talking so rapidly about something that should be paid attention to by the audience, but can't, allows our affliction (or what was left of it) to diminish.
Where's the action? Well, to tell you the truth, with all of the plot confusion, when the action occurs, it's free of conflict, which is very, very bad. Action without conflict in an action movie is like kicking yourself in the groin. Some of the scenes are unexpected and good, like when "Lost's" Matthew Fox interrogates another "Lost" actor, Nestor Carbonell, about his credibility of being a true FBI agent. Of course Carbonell's character, Pasquale Acosta who bit off the the skin on his fingers so he can't be traced, is not an FBI agent. This scene is fun to watch and has great dialogue, and an end that has great collision. Another character that's fun to watch is Jason Bateman's Rip Reed who is erratic and completely hilarious.
There is a build up, too, in "Smokin' Aces," which is the death of Israel. If he does not die, this would not be a movie. Well, it would but I would hate it even more than I do now. We watch "Smokin' Aces" not for the characters, not for the dialogue, not for the confusing plot, but for the climax, when Israel comes face to face with fate. We'll just leave it at this: it's a huge let down.
However, what saves this movie from being one of the worst films ever, is that it pulls off one of my favorite tricks in cinema, something successfully pulled off in "The Village" and "Children of Men," the incredibly shocking and unpredictable killing of a main star within the first half-hour. "Smokin' Aces" does this and is effective in the act, gaining some respect.
Grade: D
A single playing card - no matter what the suit, no matter what the color, no matter if it's got a joker on it or game rules - is two sided. If it falls, it will land on one of two sides. It will never stand up alone. This is the way "Smokin' Aces" evolves. From a particularly good eared, two-dimensional script, the characters and their situations fall heavily to the ground. With a whole lot of drive, a few original traits, and completely no audience empathy or appreciation, the ensemble, which is all too big to begin with, kicks ass, but we could care less.
However, there is one set of killers out to assassinate Vegas-rich Buddy "Aces" Israel (Jeremy Piven), and that is the female contract killers, Georgia Skye and Sharice Watters, played by singer Alicia Keys and "Hustle & Flow's" Taraji Henson. Keys delivers with on-time attitude and brings life and attractiveness to her character, whereas the other actors just deliver their lines. Henson is the key to Key's prosperity as a reasonable character. The duo are friends, and Sharice cares deeply for Georgia, which brings some humanity to the movie.
What's the conflict? It's simple. Kill Israel. Who are the characters? Well, there's a ton of them, played by Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds, Andy Garcia, Ray Liota, Common, and the list goes on. What happens? A lot and not all at the same time. The idea was present but the delivery was all wrong. Reynolds, Garcia and Liota are at a career low. Their lines are fast and important which is a terrible mix, and they're not having much fun - Garcia especially. He is a lame duck in the film.
"Smokin' Aces" is clearly not a movie for a sappy friendship to bud either - it's a guy's movie, a shoot-you-in-the-face, blood-thirsty, action extravaganza. Or it should have been. For like the card trying to stand, it falls. Director and screenwriter, Joe Carnahan, presents us with a situation, but instead of showing it to us, he tells us. Multiple characters talking so rapidly about something that should be paid attention to by the audience, but can't, allows our affliction (or what was left of it) to diminish.
Where's the action? Well, to tell you the truth, with all of the plot confusion, when the action occurs, it's free of conflict, which is very, very bad. Action without conflict in an action movie is like kicking yourself in the groin. Some of the scenes are unexpected and good, like when "Lost's" Matthew Fox interrogates another "Lost" actor, Nestor Carbonell, about his credibility of being a true FBI agent. Of course Carbonell's character, Pasquale Acosta who bit off the the skin on his fingers so he can't be traced, is not an FBI agent. This scene is fun to watch and has great dialogue, and an end that has great collision. Another character that's fun to watch is Jason Bateman's Rip Reed who is erratic and completely hilarious.
There is a build up, too, in "Smokin' Aces," which is the death of Israel. If he does not die, this would not be a movie. Well, it would but I would hate it even more than I do now. We watch "Smokin' Aces" not for the characters, not for the dialogue, not for the confusing plot, but for the climax, when Israel comes face to face with fate. We'll just leave it at this: it's a huge let down.
However, what saves this movie from being one of the worst films ever, is that it pulls off one of my favorite tricks in cinema, something successfully pulled off in "The Village" and "Children of Men," the incredibly shocking and unpredictable killing of a main star within the first half-hour. "Smokin' Aces" does this and is effective in the act, gaining some respect.
Grade: D
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