Movie · 2006 · Action, Comedy, Crime · 1h 49m · R · English
Curator score: 1.7/10 (214.5K ratings)
Nobody gets away clean.
Overview
When a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he's no longer breathing.
Ratings
Curator score: 1.7/10
IMDb: 6.6/10
Letterboxd: 3.08/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 31%
Metacritic: 45
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Joe Carnahan
Production
Universal Pictures, Working Title Films, StudioCanal, Relativity Media, Scion Films
Cast
Ryan Reynolds, Andy Garcia, Martin Henderson, Chris Pine, Ray Liotta, Alicia Keys, Common, Taraji P. Henson, Davenia McFadden, Jeremy Piven, Ben Affleck, Peter Berg, Matthew Fox, Jason Bateman, Nestor Carbonell, Kevin Durand, Tommy Flanagan, Joel Edgerton, Curtis Armstrong, Joseph Ruskin
Curator Review
Verdict
A loud, hyperactive crime caper that thrives on momentum, cast chemistry, and absurd escalation, but it also gets tangled in its own plotting and style-over-substance excess. If you want a glossy, violent, joke-heavy ensemble mess, it delivers; if you need coherence or emotional payoff, it probably won’t.
Best for
Viewers who like chaotic ensemble crime movies
Fans of fast-cut, comic-book violence and dark humor
People in the mood for a disposable but energetic action watch
Audiences who enjoy early-2000s excess and stacked supporting casts
Skip if
You want a clean, easy-to-follow thriller
You dislike frantic editing and sensory overload
You prefer grounded crime stories
You need strong character depth or a satisfying emotional arc
Overview
Smokin' Aces is the kind of movie that arrives in a spray of bullets, neon, and bad decisions. It takes a simple mob-hit premise and turns it into a feverish scramble of assassins, betrayals, and one-liners, with Joe Carnahan clearly more interested in velocity and attitude than in tidy storytelling. The result is messy, but rarely dull.
Worth noting
What keeps it watchable is the sheer commitment of the cast and the movie’s willingness to go full cartoon without apology. It has the swagger of a mid-2000s crime remix, borrowing from British gangster cinema, Tarantino-adjacent cool, and comic-book brutality, then cranking everything past reason. Some of the supporting turns are memorable enough to carry the film through its rough patches.
Bottom line
Still, the chaos is also the problem. The film piles on characters, subplots, and visual noise until the narrative starts to feel like collateral damage. If you’re in the mood for a glossy, overcaffeinated crime movie that plays like a dare, it can be a blast. If you want precision, restraint, or emotional weight, this one is mostly smoke and mirrors.
Top Letterboxd reviews
ag.mov (3.5★) · 300 likes
It's a bit convoluted, but it's a hell of a lot of fun. Like a weird mixture of Snatch and Natural Born Killers. I liked it a lot.
But, in case you wanted to know why I really liked it, I'll say this. Chris Pine plays a psychopathic redneck murderer, Common actually acts in this movie, and you get to see Jason Bateman wearing a bra. Yeah.
wersku (3★) · 224 likes
An amphetamine-fueled existential crisis firing on all cylinders, tightly packed for all of us. Soo...just pure fun.
Wildly chaotic, seemingly for no greater reason than Carnahan’s urge, maybe even a half-hearted attempt to channel someone else’s style. I’d seen this movie before, but the memory didn’t hit me until Chris Pine started using Ben Affleck as a ventriloquist dummy. And honestly, I was kind of surprised I’d forgotten watching it, because the final act’s full-blown madness turns out to be… more
DirkH (2.5★) · 191 likes
The premise is actually enjoyable, with some wonderful over the top performances.
I really didn't care for the energy drink aesthetic though....
mike hotdog (2★) · 180 likes
Smokin' Aces is a film that manages to cram every bit of exposition into the span of about 5 minutes and then goes absolutely incomprehensibly bananas for the remaining 103 minutes.
Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine (3★) · 163 likes
As he has evolved as a director Joe Carnahan, the director has managed to step out from under the shadow of Matthew Vaughn and Guy Ritchie, two directors that clearly heavily influenced his work.
Although many seem to dislike this film, since I watched it on television a while back, I have been captivated by its style, story, and characters. With the stellar cast one could expect in a film of this type, and a few surprises (Alicia Keys anyone?… more