Apr 17, 2007
Author: Paul Heath
 The
premise of SMOKIN' ACES has to be one of the simplest
ever. Las Vegas magician Buddy 'Aces' Israel (Jeremy
Piven) is in a little bit of trouble - thing is
he's being telling mob secrets to the FBI, and now
the mob wants shot of him. So, a massive bounty
is put on the head of Buddy, and everybody wants
a slice of him. Bounty hunters, assassins, hit men...
you name it.
My biggest attraction with this movie is the casting
of Mr. Piven. If you haven't seen the guy in ENTOURAGE
- then - why not? Piven plays the perfect role as
agent Ari Gold, a role that has open bigger, better
avenues to the talented actor - veteran of such
movies as JUDGEMENT NIGHT, VERY BAD THINGS, SERENDIPITY
and virtually every other John Cusack movie. Here,
Piven is present in perhaps his biggest role and
the center of everyone's attention - the target.
Also along for the ride are Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia,
Alicia Keys, Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, rapper
Common, and in his second film for director Joe
Abraham, Ray Liotta (following the superb NARC).
An cast assemble for 109 minutes of chaos.
I actually first saw this movie earlier on this
year in the theatre. I didn't know what to expect.
High octane mayhem - action packed - blood and bullets
carnage. Indeed, this movie delivers the lot - in
aces (pardon the pun). Once things start, it doesn't
take long to get into. As I said before, it's a
simple plot involving a lot of actors. What did
actually surprise me is how simple and indeed how
light this movie is - compared to Carnahan's last
effort, NARC.
Like that aforementioned flick, the talented director
employs the use of handheld camera work, superb-lighting,
flashy action-packed set pieces, littered from start
to end - but it's a totally different piece.
Each actor brings something to the screen - from
the debuts of Grammy winners Alicia Keys and Common,
to the three relatively unknowns that the play the
Tremor brothers, the always reliable Ben Affleck
in a rather unique role, an impressive Ryan Reynolds
to the brilliant Piven and cast-iron performance
of Liotta. Also look out for HUSTLE AND FLOW'S Taraji
P. Henson and even LOST'S Matthew Fox in a brief
role.
I dug this movie. While the thickness of the plot,
well, isn't very and the action perhaps moves too
quickly at certain points, this is a refreshing
change, certainly for Joe Carnahan who moves in
a completely different direction from NARC. The
plot will take you in directions you'll never expect,
and that's the best thing about this movie. Rent
it, buy it today. Certainly one of the better movies
so far this year.
THE EXTRAS:
SMOKIN' ACES is presented on a single disc DVD in
an anamorphic widescreen ration of 2.35:1. We have
a superb Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack in English,
Spanish and French.
* SHOOT 'EM UP: STUNTS AND EFFECTS - This first
documentary featurette goes behind the - well -
stunts and effects in the movie. A lot is concentrated
upon the use of guns in the movie, and how Carnahan
used a variety with all of the different actors,
especially Alicia Keys and Ryan Reynolds, who says
that he tore up his hands using the hand gun he
uses in the film. The segment features interviews
with Carnahan, Reynolds, Keys and Taraji P. Henson.
* DELETED SCENES: 18 minutes of deleted scenes from
the movie. Some are extended scenes from the picture.
We have a 'Longer Bar Sequence', 'You Ain 't No
Chinese', 'Elmore Crawls Out Of Lake' and 'Alternative
Rooftop Parking Lot'. All mildly entertaining, but
you can see why they were cut/out or down for running
time.
* OUTTAKES: A collection of funny outtake featuring
all of the cast. Check out Ben Affleck try and pot
a pool ball in the bar at the beginning of the movie.
This is what has to be the EASIEST shot in history,
but Ben manages to miss the ball at least eight
or nine times. A welcome inclusion - they must have
had a blast shooting this.
* COWBOY ENDING: The as advertised alternative ending.
Same outcome, executed slightly differently. I prefer
the ending they went with. Don;t get too excited
about this one. It's less that a minute in length.
* THE LINE-UP: Character profiles of Buddy Israel,
Lethal Ladies, Bounty Hunters, The Feds and THE
TREMOR BROTHERS. All mini-featurettes that run less
than five minutes each.
* THE BIG GUN - Referring to Joe Carnahan, rather
that Taraji P. Henson's big gun in the movie itself.
This is a fly-on-the-wall type set diary that kicks
off on day 11 of the shoot. Interviews and behind-the-scenes
footage aplenty. Thoughts from the director himself
including little tidbits like how Carnahan got the
actors to try and 'get' their characters by giving
them a selection of tracks on an iPod each. For
example, he gave the guys who played the Tremor
brothers music that included the likes of Nine Inch
Nails etc. Good stuff.
* FEATURE COMMENTARY: From director Joe Carnahan
and editor Robert Frazen, plus another commentary
featuring Carnahan and Common with Christopher Holley
(Bernard "Beanie" Alfonso) and Zach Cumer (Warren).
The second commentary with Caranhan and his actors
is the slightly more light-hearted, but if it's
a filmmaking point of view that you want, you have
to go for the first the director and his editor.
Good to see a couple of these included, but where
was Ryan Reynolds, or Liotta? Something we'd have
loved to see.
All in all, this is about as good a single disc
releases get. It's a great little movie that I enjoyed
a lot. It has come under fire a lot from critics,
but if it's fast-paced blood-and-bullets action
you're after, this is your next Saturday night rental
GRADE: B- (Movie) B (DVD Presentation)
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