Smokin’ Aces (2006)

Smokin’ Aces is so obviously derivative of Guy Ritchie’s bloody, hyperkinetic ensemble crime flick style that it could easily have been called Lock, Stock and Two Smokin’ Aces.

Writer-director Joe Carnahan also channels Quentin Tarantino and Tony Scott with his hip dialogue and high body count.

But amid all the freakish and sadistic hit men (and women) converging on Lake Tahoe for the $1 million prize to assassinate magician Buddy “Aces” Israel, it’s impossible to care about or root for a single one of them.

They are all such self-consciously two-dimensional villains – and that especially extends to Israel himself (pictured at left), played by Jeremy Piven with an obnoxious mix of coked-up bravado and bleary-eyed paranoia.

After spending a little time with this guy, and the various thugs and hookers who surround him in his lavish penthouse suite, seeing him taken out wouldn’t be such a bad thing – except that would mean some other despicable figure has succeeded.

Carnahan veers wildly between dark comedy and over-the-top violence but never quite finds the right tone. He does get a couple of good scenes out of Alicia Keys and Jason Bateman, though.

Ray Liotta, Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck, Taraji P. Henson and Andy Garcia are also among the overly large cast.

Aces opens with mob boss Primo Sparazza (Joseph Ruskin) putting a hit out on the schmaltzy Israel, a longtime associate who has agreed to turn state’s evidence and serve as the prime witness in a mounting federal case against the family.

FBI agents Carruthers (Liotta) and Messner (Reynolds) swoop into Tahoe on the orders of the deputy director (Garcia) to take Israel into custody.

But word of the $1 million contract gets out among the various lowlifes who have chosen crime as their profession, all of whom compete to get to Israel first.

Among them are bail bondsman Jack Dupree (Affleck, not bad as a sleaze); former cops Pete Deeks (Peter Berg) and Hollis Elmore (Martin Henderson); the sexy but dangerous assassin duo of Georgia Sykes (Keys, sultry in her first film role) and sniper Sharice Watters (Herson), and an insane trio of psychotic chainsaw-wielding neo-Nazi skinhead brothers (Chris Pine, Kevin Durand and Maury Sterling).

There’s also Pasqual Acosta (Netor Carbonell), an expert in elaborate torture techniques, and the shapeshifting Lazlo Soot (Tommy Flanagan), a legendary master of disguise who wears hyper-realistic latex masks.

You’d be justified in feeling confused after just reading all that – Smokin’ Aces crams in too many characters to keep them all straight, much less connect with.

Bateman, in one fabulously weird scene as a self-loathing lawyer, ends up being the most memorable of all.

His time on screen represents one of the fleeting flashes of twisted fun Smokin’ Aces can offer. Mostly you’ll just remember the gunfire and the explosions, which will keep ringing in your ears from weapons large and small, long after the film comes to its overlong and convoluted conclusion.

The film’s cult popularity spawned a direct-to-video prequel in 2010 titled Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball, which followed a similar premise with an entirely new set of eccentric contract killers.

FBI Agent Richard Messner
Ryan Reynolds
FBI Agent Donald Carruthers
Ray Liotta
Primo Sparazza
Joseph Ruskin
Buddy “Aces” Israel
Jeremy Piven
Serna
Alex Rocco
Wayne Newton
Himself
Jack Dupree
Ben Affleck
“Pistol” Pete Deeks
Peter Berg
Hollis Elmore
Martin Henderson
Georgia Sykes
Alicia Keys
Sharice Watters
Taraji P. Henson
Darwin Tremor
Chris Pine
Jeeves Tremor
Kevin Durand
Lester Tremor
Maury Sterling
Pasquale Acosta “S.A. Gerald Diego”
Nestor Carbonell
Lazlo Soot
Tommy Flanagan
Loretta Wyman
Davenia McFadden
Sir Ivy
Common
Beanie
Christopher Holley
Stanley Locke
Andy Garcia
Freeman Heller
Mike Falkow
McGarey
George Fisher
Morris Mecklen
Curtis Armstrong
The Swede
Vladimir Kulich
Hugo Croop
Joel Edgerton
Victor Padiche
David Proval
Rupert ‘Rip’ Reed
Jason Bateman
Warren
Zach Cumer
Sheriff Badger
Max Murphy
Margie Turlock
Marianne Muellerleile
Agent Baker
Brian Bloom
Young Buddy
James Conkle
Laverne
Clare Carey

Director
Joe Carnahan

Video