Smokin’ Aces ends up overcooked

By Frank D'Adamo
Collegian Staff
January 31, 2007

Vegas. Sin City. One of the places people love to go to gamble their money away. In Smokin’ Aces, the main character, Buddy “Aces” Israel, almost gambles his life away when he testifies against the mob using state evidence. Although some parts in the movie are intriguing, overall it turns out to be a bad hand.

Smokin’ Aces is directed by Joe Carnahan and has a well-known cast, including Jeremy Piven, Andy Garcia and Ray Liotta, just to name a few. The movie itself became such a drudgery for me that I had to try and pay attention because I was losing interest. The whole beginning is the assembling of different groups of assassins who find out that there is a bounty of one million dollars placed on Aces by his former protégé for snitching on him. Then, the F.B.I. get involved (Ryan Reynolds and Liotta) to try and protect him, which ensues into a total bloodbath. Without totally ripping the movie to shreds, the action scenes were more than well brought up. Script issues aside, I found myself enjoying the more violent scenes. Another key part of the film was Piven’s performance.

It has been circulating around the Internet that Hollywood producers only want Piven for his sleazy roles. This derives from his casting on the HBO hit show Entourage where he plays one of the most powerful agents in Hollywood. As the arrogant Ari Gold, Piven makes an art out of using the “f-bomb,” and TV watchers love him for it. In Smokin’ Aces, Piven is superb at playing the ignorant character that no one seems to like. It has no connection with his actual personality; the “bad guy” image is just his trademark as an actor. He can also express different qualities within different roles, especially his turn in Smokin’ Aces, where Aces displays a wide range, revealing Piven’s theatrical skills.

But while Piven actively chooses to play the same role over and over, Reynolds is trying to escape from his own stereotype generated by his Van Wilder days. Known as nothing more than a party animal who would just want to be in stupid teen movies, here he took on a totally different persona. Personally, I don’t think he’s a great actor. I think he’s going to be joining Anthony Michael Hall one day, where producers and directors forget him because he doesn’t have a rare and unique trademark. He just doesn’t seem to click like a well-received actor should. Instead, he has that lost look as if he doesn’t have a clue. Although his acting was one of the worst things about this movie, that isn’t what annoyed me the most.

What I disliked most about Smokin’ Aces is that you have to sit there and pay attention to close details of this boring storyline. The answers tie together in the end, but by that point you really don’t care. There’s a good action sequence that gives the audience a hope for an end that makes sense, but it only turns out to be displeasing. If you like this type of “art” then… enjoy.

dadamof1@lasalle.edu