Smokin’ Aces

Smokin’ Aces has “heart” and “soul”. Read on:

Writer-director Joe Carnahan’s new flick Smokin’ Aces starts 2007 off with a big, big bang. A high-(blood, guts and) octane action-thriller set in Lake Tahoe of all places, Aces gathers together an eclectic mix of underworld and law enforcement professionals who are all out to get one man: Buddy “Aces” Israel (a never better Jeremy Piven).

Part Sinatra, part David Copperfield and part Elvis, Buddy is a glitzy casino magician and entertainer who got a little too buddy-buddy with the Mafia. Buddy essentially becomes a mobster himself but he has neither the smarts nor the guts it takes to make it. So after he gets pinched and the Feds get him to turn informant against aging don Primo Sparazza, the washed-up wannabe’s former gangland allies are out to get him. But to do that they will have to find a way to penetrate his guarded Tahoe casino penthouse.

But the mob’s not the only set of enemies that Buddy has to worry about. Bailbondsman Rip Reed (Jason Bateman) sends three bounty hunters (Ben Affleck, Peter Berg and Martin Henderson) after him to make sure he doesn’t skip bail.

Worst of all, the $1 million price on Buddy’s head triggers a race between seven bad-ass assassins:Acosta (Nestor Carbonell), the Tremor brothers (Chris Pine, Kevin Durand and Maury Sterling), Lazlo Soot (Tommy Flanagan) and, last but not least, the bootylicious pair of Georgia Sykes (Alicia Keys, in her big-screen dramatic debut) and Sharice Watters (Taraji P. Henson).

Oh, wait, and then there’s the Feds who are also out to make sure Buddy doesn’t flee or die before he can rat out Primo in court. Young turk Messner (Ryan Reynolds) and his mentor Carruthers (Ray Liotta) are partners who (gasp!) actually get along and like each other. Their boss Locke (Andy Garcia), however, is a cold fish who may be the keeper of more secrets than he can handle.

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Smokin’ Aces

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