Guns At The Ready (Smokin' Aces (DVD))

Member Name: topsyturvy

Product:	Smokin' Aces (DVD)
Date:	22/03/08 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good action scenes

Disadvantages: ending

It's been a few weeks since I have had time to watch any films but since it is the Easter holidays for me I have had a bit more time to watch some films. My friends are always giving me DVD's when they are finished with them that they will no longer watch so among this pile was the film 'Smokin' Aces'. I had heard of this being advertised a year ago and I remember hearing that Ben Affleck was in it but at the time I didn't remember it really getting that great reviews which is why I never saw it at the cinema. However, having been given the DVD I decided this was no excuse to not watch it so I took a chance and put it on.

The plot is based around a plot to kill Buddy 'Aces' Israel (Jeremy Piven) who is a Las Vegas showman and former gangster member of La Cosa Nostra, a large America criminal organization. In exchange for him getting a disappearance agreement with the Witness Protection Act he agrees to testify against his former teacher Primo Sparazza and the La Cosa Nostra, so he hides in his penthouse with bodyguards watching over him.

The main reason being that he is what the FBI considers to be the key witness to them getting some of the last people involved in La Cosa Nostra in the US. Don Primo Sparazza whose health was failing put a $1 million dollar bounty on Israel and wanted his heart as well. Two members of Sparazza's team get together and hire a team of assassins to try and sort out the Buddy Israel issue and to keep the money themselves. The FBI on the other hand wants to keep him alive as he is the key to the La Cosa Nostra case. FBI agents Richard Messner (Ryan Reynolds) and Donald Carruthers (Ray Liotta) are on the case once they find out that others are trying to kill Israel.

Jack Dupree (Ben Affleck) and ex policemen Hollis Elmore (Martin Henderson) and Pete Deeks (Pete Berg) are hired by Israel's lawyers to pick him up and return him to Vegas. However, Serna and Padiche La Cosa Nostra members hire Georgia Sykes (Alicia Keys) and Sharice Watters (Taraji Henson), the best person to go in disguise Lazlo Soot, torturer Pasquale Acosta and Nazis the Tremor Brothers all go to the Hotel in Lake Tahoe where Israel is hiding to kill him.

This film shocked me as it ended up being really good, it flew by quickly and was action packed. At first I was a bit confused about the plot but once it went on it all seemed to click into place. Ben Affleck wasn't that great in this film and considering he was the main one I heard mentioned for acting in this film he wasn't even one of the stand out actors. I think personally Ryan Reynolds made this film, from his days as a comedian in Van Wilder this was a transformation as a serious FBI agent but it really proved him as an actor as it shows he is adaptable and can play both sides well.

Alicia Keys was also good in her role it was different from a singer going to play a singer but as a more in depth character she was good. The film had a lot of great scenes but was very violent. There are some great shooting scenes but sometimes it all got a bit much and it sort of lost the direction it was heading in.

What I will say about this film is that is did work well and was great to watch but I still felt it got a bit lost in the end and the director tried to a clever plot twist but kind of failed as it confused me in the end and seemed pointless. Also considering all of these people are hired to go after Israel it seems to do anything but ever really tackle this. The whole hotel setting worked in this film as it made it more interesting how all of these people were after the one man but took on their own way of getting to him.

This film is probably best for people who like action and don't mind violence and bloody films. It was a good plot and it lasts 1hr and 44minutes but as said before this went by really quickly. It is also an 18 certificate mostly for the violence. On Amazon this film is £5.48 but with postage on top and on Play.com it is £4.99 with free delivery.

For more information and to view the trailer go to, http://www.smokinaces.net/

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