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Top Critics (34)
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DVD (25)
It wants to be a Tarantino-esque dark comedy about gun-slinging, substance-abusing lowlifes. But instead it's a convoluted, slap-happy, humorless bloodfest.
We just sit there numbly, awaiting the next sensation and trying, without notable success, to comprehend the preposterous backstory.
Violence is spread throughout the film, and some of it is entertaining, I have to admit. But the climax at Buddy's Tahoe penthouse is Tarantino on speed.
Did Carnahan think these sickening scenes would give Smokin' Aces a moral complexity that's generally absent from this genre? I think they make the picture seem even more morally bankrupt.
Smokin Aces is a Viagra suppository for compulsive action fetishists and a movie that may not only be dumb in itself, but also the cause of dumbness in others.
This is from the same Joe Carnahan who impressed mightily with his Sundance hit Narc, a tale of murder and police corruption that was lean, focussed and spellbinding -- everything that Smokin' Aces isn't. What the hell happened?
The poor man's Guy Ritchie, which is sad since the poor man already has Guy Ritchie
Chaotic, violent, and unoriginal. Not for kids.
The best Tarantino riff of 1994.
Could've been a classic belch of grindhouse-throwback foolishness if not for Carnahan's apparent need to take his story seriously after all.
A great ensemble cast, along with excellent direction makes this a gem worth the watch...
Smokin' Aces isn't the most original endeavor, but it has enough wit, action and dramatic weight to carve out its own rightful place of honor in the crime film genre.
An uneven, overly stylized mess that wants to recall Quentin Tarantino, but which only mines the glitz, not the depth or the sharpness of Tarantino's dialogue.
It's flashy and feels hip, but I wonder if it's all just a smokescreen much like the one in the film's plot.
It's instantly engrossing, stays great for about 45 minutes and good for another 20, then begins collapsing under the oppressive weight of taking itself very, very seriously.
Smokin' Aces stands somewhere between the creative crack attack of Crank, and the testosterone fueled freak out of the WWE's The Marine.
It's never boring for a minute, and it's a ridiculous, fun waste of time.
Between beaucoup booty calls, bling and bulletry, Smokin' Aces is certainly visually-captivating from start to finish. Just don't expect its storyline to be any more sophisticated than the typical gangsta' rap video, and you won't be disappointed.
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