Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Smokin' Aces (2006)


Genre: Action/Crime/Mystery

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Common, Alicia Keys, Andy Garcia, Taraji P. Henson, Tommy Flanagan

Narrating the story of the dirty world of Vegas, the movie depicts crime rings, mob bosses and FBI. Buddy Isreal (Piven) is a Vegas award-winning entertainer who enters the crime world and gets affiliated with mob boss Primo Sparazza. Due to differences between Sparazza and Israel, they part ways and Sparazza now wants Israel dead and not just dead, wants his beating heart in his hand. He has hired the mysterious 'Swede' as a person to carry out the operation, of whom the FBI has no record. Word gets around of the 1 million bounty and hit men, mass murderers and assassins run amok to get their hands on Israel first. FBI Deputy Director Locke (Garcia) is in talks with Israel on an immunity deal and Agent Messner (Reynolds) and Agent Carruthers (Liotta) are sent to secure Israel from the 'Swede'. The movie in a way reminds one of a Guy Ritchie movie sans the humour and sarcasm. It is a decent attempt at showing multiple hit men gunning for a common target but the movie is still off the mark and along with some additional elements it could have been made much better. Some unwanted dramatic bits but showcases Vegas crime and glamour quite aptly.

Thumbs up: A nice action and crime entertainer
Thumbs down: Lacks that 'feeling' or 'punch' before you can really start to appreciate it

Rating: 6.8/10

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