Smokin’ Aces Review
by Clint Morris
He hates being compared to Quentin Tarantino, and for the
most part, you can't blame the guy - Joe Carnahan makes different types
of "action" movies to the pop-cultured wunderchild. There’s
one thing Carnahan can’t quarrel over though, and that’s
the fact that his career seems to be following the same pattern as the
indy maverick. Carnahan’s lowly-budgeted Narc
– which thanks to Ray Liotta’s presence, found funding and
a home pretty early on – didn’t set the box office on fire,
but it had festival attendees clapping till the last credit; critics
raving till the calves came home; and Hollywood keen to throw more
money at Carnahan to do his next movie. I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot like what happened to Tarantino with his Reservoir Dogs…
don’t you think? I mean; semi-name cast, acclaimed on the
festival and indy circuits; beloved by critics… and the conduit
to something bigger and bolder down the track? And
here’s Joe Carnahan with a star-studded (there’s about a
dozen name actors in this thing!) with his action packed magnum
opus, Smokin’ Aces – the tale of hit men, shady ladies and overindulgence. Hmmm. Pulp Fiction went a little like that too, didn’t it? But, I’m sorry, "Did I break your concentration!?" To
the movie. Vegas magician Buddy Israel (Jeremy Piven; now living
large thanks to the success of TV series 'Entourage') is one hell
of a wanted man. He’s about to rat on some crook friends, so
every hit-man and their offsider have been hired to put a bullet in his
brain before he can do so. Naturally, this makes for a potent mix,
so then it's hit men vs. the feds vs. Israel in a bloody hotel shootout. As a film Aces is more True Romance than Pulp Fiction -- the
script Tarantino wrote before he was famous, and consequently
sold off to director Tony Scott for a couple of IHOP vouchers. From its
endless array of fast-cut violence, gratuitous cast of cameos
(there’s more stars in here than a Cannonball Run
sequel), and mish-mash of blood and belly laughs, it’s definitely
aiming to be the next slumber party cult favourite. Unfortunately
it doesn’t quite succeed, instead coming off as little more than
a wannabe, rather than the real-thing. The script has some
flair and some spunky dialogue, but it’s as messy as a
teenager’s bedroom and not quite sure what it wants to be.
There’s just no real story here – which probably explains
why Carnahan has drowned the film in gunfire and famous faces. Nothing
like a bit of madness to put you off picking plot holes, hey? Smokin’ Aces
feels like the time you turned up drunk to your friend’s wedding
– lots of faces there, lots of stuff going on, but nothing in
particular really sticks in your mind about the evening. 3 out
of 5 Smokin' Aces
Australian
release: 8th February,
2007
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck, Jeremy Piven, Alicia Keys, Ray Liotta, Andy
Garcia, Jason Bateman, Peter Berg, Martin Henderson, Joel Edgerton, Matthew Fox, Common, Chris Pine
Director: Joe Carnahan
Website: Click
here.
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