Product Details

• Region: All Regions
• Rated: Unrated
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (181 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000NTPFKS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #261,336 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Fresh from his success with HBO's ENTOURAGE, Jeremy Piven gives his career a further boost by taking the lead role in director Joe Carnahan's (NARC) fast-paced thriller, SMOKING ACES. Piven plays Buddy "Aces" Israel, a former Vegas performer who has holed up in the penthouse suite of a Lake Tahoe casino after what seems like half the planet decides they want him dead. The reason for this bloodlust stems from Israel's dalliances with the mob, who have put a $1 million price tag on his head after discovering he is about to tell all to the feds. The only people who don't want to put a premature end to Israel's life are two FBI agents, played by Ryan Reynolds and Ray Liotta, and their boss, Andy Garcia. As various assassins attempt to put an end to Israel's pitiful existence, a parade of celebrity cameos ensues, including Alicia Keys, Common, Ben Affleck, and Jason Bateman.Carnahan soaks the screen with vivid primary colors, lots of flashy set pieces, and plenty of guns and violence as his movie thunders from one explosive scene to the next. The shooting style, script, and acting are all highly indebted to Quentin Tarantino's early works, and the impressive ensemble cast will ensure plenty of PULP FICTION comparisons. Standout performances come courtesy of Piven and Liotta, with the former reveling in a character surrounded by burly bodyguards, cheap hookers, and a blizzard of cocaine as he sweats and paces around his penthouse hideout, ultimately awaiting either freedom or death as the movie nears its spectacular finale.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars It is what it is -- a great-looking, trippy action flick February 11, 2007

By Peace Brotha

Smokin Aces is one of the best eye candy films I have seen in years.

It is full of interesting camera angles, shocks, thrills, humor and characters that you will remember. I for one appreciate the fact that almost none of the actors were cast as you'd expect. And while SA is not what I would call a retro-style film, there are more than enough nods to the 1970's that fans of that culture like me will really get a kick out of this film's style.

And WHAT a soundtrack.

Note: there are so many plots and subplots interwoven throughout SA that you will surely need to see this movie once more to catch everything, including some of the more profound statements about the darker sides of the human psyche that the director may or may not be trying to comment on.

Some of the reviewers say there's too much violence. Hello. That's what these types of movies are about. Period.

All in all, SA is a great-looking and trippy action flick that doesn't try to be something that it isn't: "deep." Don't look for Academy Award winning ANYTHING here. But be prepared for an interesting ride that you will surely want to take again, and in 20 years it will be a lot more acclaimed than it is now. Just wait and see.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Man August 9, 2007

By RG69 VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

I really wanted this to be good. You look at the list of characters that star in this and you figure it has got to be good. I was hoping for a semi serious picture with a great story like Ocean's Eleven(the remake). Instead this was more of a Hong Kong over the top action film with buckets of bloody killings. I don't mind pictures like that, but the box said drama comedy. I'm not sure where the comedy was in the movie. The acting is fine, and there certainly was some offbeat characters. Unfortunately everything has a ton of promise, but very little hits the mark. This was decent to watch and entertaining, but I wasn't blown away like I would have hoped. Certainly worth renting, and probably a buy for a lot of people. I would watch it first rather than making a blind buy.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Sure it won't win any awards, but it was still fun to watch. June 21, 2007

By Peter Shermeta VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

Believe it or not, this movie was actually relatively entertaining. Even when some pretty small parts are involved, I am always interested in seeing a movie with a cast like this. Let me list a few people who made appearances in Smokin' Aces: Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Ben Affleck, Peter Berg, Common, Andy Garcia, Alicia Keys, "that girl from Hustle & Flow," Jason Bateman and Matthew Fox.

The movie was completely ridiculous. Ryan Reynolds started to go a little overboard at the end, but other than that the movie does not take itself seriously at all. If you try to take this movie seriously, you will be grossly disappointed. Smokin' Aces combined just about every possible stereotype into a murder-for-hire movie, but did it to be satirical and did not come across as cliché. It was so ridiculous, in fact, that I considered it almost on par with a Quentin Tarantino flick.

Call me crazy, but I liked Smokin' Aces...for what it was. I was looking for an off-the-wall, shoot-'em-up, action movie and that is exactly what I got. I was even impressed with the creativity behind the story (though the end was somewhat of a let down).