Review of Smokin' Aces (2006)

Hello all! Today I'll be reviewing "Smokin' Aces," directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Ryan Reynolds, Alicia Keys, Ben Affleck, Ray Liotta, and Common, among others.

Synopsis: A Las Vegas performer-turned-mobster-turned-snitch decides to testify against the mob, and there are different groups of competing mercenaries that all want to make sure that he stops breathing before that happens.

Pros:

1. I don't know why, but I expected this movie to be a lot more funny than it was. I expected a kind of "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" feel, where the story is based around a crime, but it's more funny than dramatic. But, refreshingly, this movie is filled with drama, action and heart; any comedic aspect of it is very dark. These groups of mercenaries (I'll go into those later) are willing to stop at nothing to make sure that the snitch dies before testifying against the mob, and the snitch will do anything - even rat out his own friends - to make sure that he stays alive. It had a very "kill or be killed" feel to it, which I loved.

2. The mercenaries are awesome in this movie. There's the group of redneck punks (which includes Chris Pine, which I thought was hilarious to see), the sassy black women (which consisted of Alicia Keys in her first and only movie role and Taraji P. Henson, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite African American actresses), the group of ex-cops led by Ben Affleck, a scarred up killer who is a master of disguise, and the "mysterious Swede," a man that no one has any information on; he's basically a ghost.

Ben Affleck (without his awesome team - couldn't find a good picture)

The master of disguise (and possibly my favorite mercenary)

Alicia Keys and Taraji Henson as Georgia and Sharice.

The Tremor Brothers (the redneck team)

3. Normally, movies are described as this: ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances. Something happens that makes an ordinary person step up and do something out of his/her norm, and that's what drives the movie. However, with this movie, this idea is flipped: essentially, this story is fairly ordinary: a mob snitch gets a hit put on him after he decides to testify against them. The extraordinary part of the story comes from the larger-than-life characters on screen, which makes the movie so much fun to watch. Not only that, but every character in the film is so different from each other, and in the most extreme way.

4. All of the actors in the movie learned how to use every weapon used in the movie. No one had a body double to use their guns for them, which I thought was awesome.

Cons:

1. There's a really confusing sub-plot in the movie that they tried to pass off as a main plot point, but the movie would still have been awesome without it. It was kind of necessary, since it's part of the awesome twist ending, but even without a twist ending it was still a grade-A movie.

Well, there you have it! This movie is great for everyone, especially if you're a fan of kooky characters and more modern action movies. 4 stars for you, "Smokin' Aces"! Thanks for reading!