Smokin' Aces

Are you looking for a blood-spattering, flesh-shredding, bullet-charged adrenaline rush? If so, look no further than "Smokin' Aces." Thanks to this original screen play by Joe Carnahan, what happens to a human body when it is riddled by a full clip of 50-caliber ammunition is no longer left up to the imagination. It might be safe to say there is more blood here than in all three "Saw" movies combined. Ok, well maybe not, but it might certainly be close.

To be frankly honest I was (as many others were as well) hoping to see more Jeremy Piven in this flick than what I was shown. Not to say it was bad because of that, I just had to change my expectations halfway through--and I don't like to do that.

The cast was decent, and by decent I mean on the better side of good. The short-list includes: Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia and even a cameo by Wayne Newton. The shocker for me was all of the Ryan Reynolds' screen time. I'll admit I really only like him in bright and humorous comedies such as "Van Wilder" but he did an alright job here as well with FBI Agent Messner. Ben Affleck had a small role as a bounty hunter but (semi-spoiler here, skip if you don't want to read it) was killed off fairly early in the movie. Andy Garcia did a fine job but his character seemed almost exactly like that of Terry Benedict in the "Ocean's" movie series. Either way, I wanted more fast-talking Jeremy Piven, but didn't get the fix I was looking for.

The cinematography was that of your standard issue action flick; all of the glitz, a short snippet of a speeding car, pretty people (and then those not-so-much), guns, explosions, swearing and a little emotional crying with a heroic ending of sorts. It is as if they pulled out the "how to make an action movie" handbook and followed the bullet points. It was entertainment nonetheless.

In summary, I can't say I loved this movie... I can't say I hated it... I was just neutral. The true plot was a bit bizarre in relation to the film and you leave with a "what happened there" type feeling, of which I am not so fond. For that I give "Smokin' Aces" 2.5 Mitch Heads. It wasn't great, it wasn't terrible, see it if you are bored, there are other things out there to spend your $6-9 on.

- Mitch G