Smokin' Aces

Director Carnahan beat screenwriter Carnahan in a short sprint by several lengths. The first two acts are an audiovisual ride with some fresh ideas, in the style of Ritchie's best flicks, but towards the end, the engine of the sports car stutters in such a way that it parks in a garage with a sign saying "Reynolds' Fateful Drama" and slowly dies there. If they had let the sports car go past the finish line and not stepped on the brake, it would have been worth four medals. (01/09/2008)

On one hand, it's unnecessarily long and drawn out, yet on the other hand, there are excellent acting performances (led by the cool Ben Affleck), great individual scenes, excellent action, and disarming stylization. What is unforgivable, however, is the weak story that is so piecemeal that it is a) impossible to navigate and b) almost completely unengaging. Carnahan has talent but it would be better if he made movies based on screenplays by someone else. (07/14/2007)

After a bit of time goes by that is diligently devoted to thinking, and after a second viewing, I finally came to like this film that is Carnahan's baby. It is true that the trailers promised something completely different, but the result is an entertaining stylistic film that is definitely currently above average (let's blame it on clever marketing this time). Mainly thanks to the perfect direction and excellent casting (Ryan Reynolds is great!), this rather disparate whole holds together quite well. Unfortunately, as is still apparent, Carnahan isn’t a great screenwriter (Buddy's existential drama), but he's more than adept as a craftsman (changing one cool camera unit after another, the actual shooting races). He definitely can’t be compared to Guy Ritchie because they are both playing on completely different fields. This film is a much crazier and at times twisted spectacle, which is certainly not boring, but it is true that when a director makes a pure action spectacle, those far beyond the borders of Hollywood will bow down to him. (03/30/2007)

Smokin’ Aces is essentially just another variation on the music-video-inspired crime flick in the style of Guy Ritchie that won’t surprise you with anything new. However, the adrenaline-fuelled dynamics and the exposition of the bad guys are at a high level, and if the film had a slightly slower build-up with a more thorough introduction of the characters, the bloodbath climax could have not only faked BIG EMOTIONS, but actually evoked them. And then it would rank among the better gangster cult movies. Joe Carnahan’s slapdash dramaturgy weakens the impression that the film makes as a whole and leaves “only” the visual/editing treats (something similar could perhaps be said about the first Kill Bill, but that film has the benefit of Tarantino’s more original concept). (01/17/2007)

My opinion of this film hasn’t changed even after all those years since I saw it for the first time. Joe Carnahan seemed like a schizophrenic - while a part of him wrote and directed quality action scenes and managed to add a good dose of humor to this crime thriller, the other part added many illogicalities, unnecessary dialogue and an inner struggle of the goody-goody main character. But I must say that the role of a puppet was the best I've seen from Ben Affleck so far. (04/23/2020)