Review of Smokin' Aces (2006) by Compi24 — 14 Sep 2020

Similar to Troy Duffy's 1999 cult classic, "The Boondocks Saints," Joe Carnahan's "Smokin' Aces" contains many of the surface-level hallmarks of a Tarantino flick (excessive violence, indulgent dialogue, stylistic idiosyncrasies, etc.

) but none of the other elements of actual substance within those works (narrative intricacy, thematic intrigue, impressive camerawork, etc.) Surprisingly enough, the crux of this movie's watchability stems from its retroactively all-star cast.

Joel Edgerton, Taraji P. Henson, Chris Pine and even Jason Bateman feature prominently in the film, but rest nowhere near top billing, as they all appear within earlier points along their respective careers.

With a cast like that, it's kinda funny how Jeremy Piven was considered the star of this movie at the time of its release. On a serious note, though, there's some troublesome humor in this, particularly one bit involving the director lewdly poking fun at a teenager with attention deficit issues.

I mean, what the hell, man? I don't even think I would've found that funny in 2006. Also, there's a third-act exposition dump in this that I swear would make even the likes of Hideo Kojima blush. As I write this, I'm shocked I didn't end up rating "Smokin' Aces" lower than the above score.

Perhaps my tolerance of decent-looking gunfights is getting in the way of my academic eye? Who's to say, except me, and I'm already done wanting to talk about this thing.