Smokin' Aces (2006)

Director:

Joe Carnahan

Writer (WGA):

Joe Carnahan (written by)

Release Date:

26 January 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

May the best hitman win.

Plot:

When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel (Piven) decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he's no longer breathing.

Plot Keywords:

Night Club | Gun In Mouth | Casino | Male Nudity | Lift Shooting

Awards:

4 wins

US TV Schedule:

Wed. May 21	2:05 AM	HBO
Wed. May 28	10:15 PM	HBO

Cast

Ryan Reynolds	...	Richard Messner
Ray Liotta	...	Donald Carruthers
Joseph Ruskin	...	Primo Sparazza
Alex Rocco	...	Serna
Wayne Newton	...	Himself
Jeremy Piven	...	Buddy Israel
Ben Affleck	...	Jack Dupree
Peter Berg	...	"Pistol" Pete Deeks
Martin Henderson	...	Hollis Elmore
Common	...	Sir Ivy
Christopher Michael Holley	...	Beanie (as Christopher Holley)
Andy Garcia	...	Stanley Locke
Mike Falkow	...	Freeman Heller
Joe Drago	...	FBI Aid
Jeff Habberstad	...	Top Coated Gunman

Also Known As:

Mi$e à prix (France)

Runtime:

109 min | USA:108 min

Country:

UK | France | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | New Zealand:R18 | USA:R (certificate #41676) | Sweden:15 | Denmark:15 | France:-12 | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Germany:16 | Japan:R-15 | Singapore:M18 | Italy:VM14 | Ireland:18 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | South Africa:16LV | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Norway:18 | Finland:K-18 | Netherlands:16 | Malaysia:18PL | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | UK:18 | Australia:R

Filming Locations:

Lake Tahoe, California, USA

Company:

Working Title Films

Trivia:

Director Cameo: [Joe Carnahan]When Jack Dupree is talking about Buddy Israel it shows a bank robbery going on. For a split second you see a man with a beard and sunglasses leaning his back on a truck yelling out and holding a machine gun. This is Carnahan.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the hit man is disguised as Hugo and is placing his collection of tools on the bench, the order changes.

Quotes:

Buddy 'Aces' Israel: These flowers are wilted, I need you to call the florist.

Movie Connections:

References The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Soundtrack:

Segura o Sambura

Gore and Grins for the Guys

Here's another addition to anyone's list of definitive "guy flicks". Compared to testosterone treats like Jason Statham's pair of Transporter stints, this one offers a more complicated plot, fewer explosions and chases, but more gruesome killings. Plus some fine touches of grim humor, and a dash of eye candy. It comes from the fertile, if demented, mind of Joe Carnahan, who struck first with the cheapie hit Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane, before upgrading to studio-quality crime drama in Narc. Arguably, he's the US doppelganger for England's Guy Ritchie (Lox, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch - both also featuring Statham), since he's less arty and cinematically historical about showcasing mayhem than Quentin Tarantino.

Jeremy Piven plays a Las Vegas lounge star and gangster wannabe, who first endears himself to the Mob, runs afoul of the local Capo, then offers his testimony to the FBI in exchange for protection and profit. When the Mafiosi put a $1M price-tag on his head, hordes of hit persons (solos and teams, male and female, foreign and domestic; the EEOC would be more than satisfied with this field's diversity), some hired, others freelance, converge on the casino penthouse in Lake Tahoe where their quarry is "hiding", while his agent (gifted, yet underemployed, Curtis Armstrong) negotiates terms with the Feds.

The deep cast includes Ben Affleck, Ray Liotta, Andy Garcia, Jason Bateman, Alicia Keys, and plenty of other familiar faces. Carnahan careens among multiple arenas of plotting, with FBI briefings filling in the audience and their agents on some of the players they're about to face, building to the inevitable chaos of competing factions converging on Piven and his legion of bodyguards, in what promises to be a dazzling display of carnage and comedy. The reality comes pretty close, with a couple of cool surprises along the way.

Unfortunately, Carnahan, like a certain US President who comes to mind, crafted his superb attack without a viable exit strategy. After the cosmic convergence, there's more exposition and anticlimactic wind-down than anyone needed, or the preceding frenzy deserved.

Enjoy the movie, fellas. But for those who wait (or double-dip), expect the DVD's extras to include at least one alternate ending, and several bloody and/or sexy deleted scenes that were axed for optimal running time, rather than lack of titillation.