Review of Smokin' Aces (2006) by Brandon S — 19 Dec 2016

I'm still momentously impressed by Joe Carnahan's command of the scenes he orchestrates. This thing could have very well been a runaway train with only brief moments of successful action, but his script and the talent of the cast always seems to persevere. That being said, the energy reaches a fever pitch at times that is quite unsustainable, and that forces the film to, despite the strength in other areas, simply lie there; seemingly unsure of where it's headed.

That's the great curse of this film: Joe Carnahan, talented as he may be, tried to fit a TV miniseries inside of a 110 minute movie that is only handicapped by its lack of available time to elaborate.