Smokin' Aces (2007)

O An excellent must-see
O Good rental choice
O Mediocre
X Rent something else

Review by Jason Pyles / April 17, 2007

Typically, I love Mafia movies, but “Smokin’ Aces” isn’t really a Mafia movie — though it purports to be. It also poses as a clever Tarantino bloodbath, but it doesn’t pull that off, either. “Smokin’ Aces” is a “hit-man’s Olympics.”

Buddy “Aces” Israel (Jeremy Piven) is the FBI’s one and only key witness who can finally bring down Mafioso godfather Primo Sparazza (Joseph Ruskin). The FBI have him hole up in a Las Vegas penthouse, heavily guarded, under a witness protection program.

When Sparazza requests Israel’s death (and his heart as a souvenir), contract killers come out of the woodwork in a race for the prize — similar to the way Boba Fett and all the galaxy’s bounty hunters flocked to collect on Jabba the Hut’s contract for Han Solo. As this circus of ruthless and disgusting degenerates ascend the tower, they assassinate anyone who gets in their way.

The problem with “Smokin’ Aces” is that it unsuccessfully tries to orchestrate myriad characters. An effective example of this would be “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001); an ineffective example is “Smokin’ Aces.”

This edited version’s cuts make an already confusing movie even harder to follow. And it’s still a violent and bloody mess.

Directed by Joe Carnahan
Jeremy Piven / Ryan Reynolds / Andy Garcia
108 min. Action / Crime
(Original MPAA rating: R)
Edited version age recommendation: 18 and up

DVD release date: April 17, 2007
Copyright 2007.
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