Search - MC-SMOKIN ACES (DVD) (MOVIE CASH)-NLA on DVD

Man

Ron | Jersey | 08/09/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I really wanted this to be good. You look at the list of characters that star in this and you figure it has got to be good. I was hoping for a semi serious picture with a great story like Ocean's Eleven(the remake). Instead this was more of a Hong Kong over the top action film with buckets of bloody killings. I don't mind pictures like that, but the box said drama comedy. I'm not sure where the comedy was in the movie. The acting is fine, and there certainly was some offbeat characters. Unfortunately everything has a ton of promise, but very little hits the mark. This was decent to watch and entertaining, but I wasn't blown away like I would have hoped. Certainly worth renting, and probably a buy for a lot of people. I would watch it first rather than making a blind buy."

Bang, bang, Boom, Boom...fizzle

Mr. Richard K. Weems | Fair Lawn, NJ USA | 08/18/2007

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I'm a big fan of gangster genre--in many ways, it seems to be one of the last vestiges of quirky character investigation left in the world of movies and media. The popularity and intrigue generated by The Sopranos, for example, shows you how much gangsters capture people's interests. And why? Maybe because they're such extraordinary personalities, characters that are dealing with the essential questions of survival and betrayal and life and death.

But nix that idea for this movie--this movie is a wannabe in gangster genre, but only seems to know the images but nothing of the substance. Wanting to soak up the cult elitism of Tarantino added to the flair of something like Snatch, this movie tries to set up a host of nasty but somehow interesting characters, as well as a little secret to try to drive the film by.

The set-up--simple. Buddy Israel, a Vegas magician turned mob boss, is turning informant, and so a million-dollar bounty has been put on his head, which catches the interest of a hitman who is also a master of disguise, as well as a pair of female gangstas, a trio of Nazi brothers, and a mysterious figure known as only The Swede (which is apprently a nickname that was never used in the hole history of the mob). But there is a stir in the FBI head office, and though three agents (including Ray Liotta) have already headed off to Israel's penthouse to protect the man.

Of course, there are other characters and turns, but they all feel a little flat during the movie, for there is little sense of character investigation and more a barrage of eccentricities with little sense of the logic behind them, and the pay-off towards the end is nothing of the sort, leading to a finale that is little more than improbable to any sense of logic. Rather than deal with the emotions of love, hatred and devotion, this movie merely mentions them to try to spice up its characters, but they are never really issues in the plot. Israel is clearly bothered by his impending move, but the reason for it is totally obfuscated until maybe the end, but even then it's not so clear. There might be a hint of romance between the two female killers, but again this is there just to make them a little more quirky rather than truly interesting characters.

Overall, a disappointment. Flash and fire, but little interest.
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