KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * *
Unlike director and screenwriter Joe Carnahan's previous thriller - the acclaimed and gritty NARC - this has a more glossy Hollywood approach.
Smokin' Aces, showing the influences of Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino, begins with a lengthy narration that sets the scene and
introduces the large cast.
This longwinded and convoluted introduction requires far too much concentration for a film that's about stylish fast-paced entertainment, and what could have been a pretty simple story.
Jeremy Piven takes the lead role as Buddy "Aces" Israel, a Vegas magician and mobster wannabe, who gets involved with the mafia and is nabbed by the FBI.
Faced with a long list of charges, Buddy discovers his only option is to turn, and testify against the mob. The mob don't respond well, and put a $1 million price-tag on his head.
Holed up in a penthouse suite at a Lake Tahoe casino, Buddy proves a popular man, with weirdo assassins, a group of bail bondsmen (Affleck, Henderson) and three FBI agents (Liotta, Reynolds and Garcia), racing to get to Buddy first. And so the fun begins.
After taking what feels like the first third of the film to introduce us to all the characters, it turns out they are all expendable, as Smokin' Aces turns from a potentially sassy thriller into a chaotic, excessive, quirky over-the-top bloodbath that has you laughing one minute but grimacing the next.
Needless to say, this is a guy-flick. While there are some truly funny moments in this film there are also some truly gruesome and gratuitous ones. The film is filled with passed-out naked prostitutes draped ridiculously over furniture, lesbian assassins, shootouts, a few good guys and a heck of a lot of bad guys.
Smokin' Aces is the perfect revenge for guys who have been dragged along to too many romantic comedies.
As the film wears on, those trying to put in a more weighty performances - mostly by the good guys - get lost in the carnage, while unnecessary and random scenes (such as Jason Bateman as a self-destructive lawyer, and Martin Henderson dressed in an oversized sweater with a koala on it) steal the show.
Smokin' Aces does look swish, and there are a few nice twists amid the downright silly turns, but the film suffers from a lack of cohesion and substance because of too many characters, too many subplots and too many ways to die.
Cast: Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta, Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Jeremy Piven, Alicia Keys, Martin Henderson
Director: Joe Carnahan
Running Time: 109 minutes
Rating: R18, violence, offensive language, drug use
Screening: SkyCity, Hoyts and Berkeley
Verdict: Disappointingly over-stuffed and overcooked thriller