Smokin' Aces (2007)

HomeFilmSmokin' Aces

Released in 2006, this fast-paced crime-action thriller, directed by Joe Carnahan, has good potential, some big Hollywood names and black comic moments, but ultimately fails to fully deliver. Not the easiest of films to get into, the problems stack up as it progresses, made worse as Carnahan tries to inject some depth and meaning into what is, essentially, a blood-soaked shoot 'em up.

When Las Vegas illusionist and wannabe mobster Buddy "Aces" Israel (Jeremy Piven) agrees to testify against his former friends, he signs his own death warrant. With a million-dollar bounty on his head, a bloodthirsty pack of hitmen and women head for Buddy's Lake Tahoe hideaway to make the magic man disappear for good. FBI agents Messner (Reynolds) and Carruthers (Ray Liotta) are despatched by boss Andy Garcia to protect him, but the Feds have some secrets of their own...

Gangsters, guns and girls explode across the screen in a Molotov cocktail of cartoon violence, and you need to keep your wits about you as characters -large and small - fall in the near-constant crossfire. After years of playing sidekicks, Piven makes the most of his time in the spotlight as the drug-addled, self-pitying "Aces".

Worth a look, but it's not a royal flush.

Smokin' Aces is a Film programme that first aired in 2007 and has been rated 18.

Smokin' Aces is a 3 star programme.

Next Show Times

• United Kingdom
• United States

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