Mayhem-fest misses the mark

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, January 25, 2007

A mob hit with a million-dollar payout brings a rogue’s gallery of would-be killers to converge on the victim’s hideout … surely this is the plot of some old gangster movie, or a spaghetti western?

Could be, but “Smokin’ Aces” take the situation and amps it up with unbridled mayhem. This movie from “Narc” director Joe Carnahan is a snarky, bullet-riddled ride through the crime underworld. Or at least the movie crime underworld.

The target of the hit is a Las Vegas magician named Buddy “Aces” Israel, played in a great wig and exhausted manner by Jeremy Piven. He’s agreed to turn state’s evidence against his Mafia pals, so the feds have put him into a suite at a Lake Tahoe hotel.

He’s safe there, because the FBI has the place locked down, with two agents (Ryan Reynolds and Ray Liotta) on their way to supervise. Except when we see the competing killers assembling on the scene, it doesn’t look so safe.

Carnahan has created a circus sideshow of actors and characters to descend on this scene. The movie is like “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” with assassins.

There’s a lesbian duo (singer Alicia Keys and Taraji Henson) toting what looks like a small cannon. There’s a sleazoid bail bondsman (Ben Affleck, in amusing cameo form) dragging along a couple of partners (Martin Henderson, Peter Berg). And there’s a demented trio of European neo-Nazis.

Don’t forget the international “torture specialist” (Nestor Carbonell), who shares a memorable scene with an unsuspecting security guard (Matthew Fox, in a one-scene role that may be the most human moment in the movie). Throw in an outrageous master of disguise (Tommy Flanagan), and a pair of Buddy’s bodyguards (Joel Edgerton and rap star Common), and you’ve got yourself a mess.

“Smokin’ Aces” hops around this set-up like a caffeinated game of checkers, which distracts the viewer for a while from realizing that this bloody sport is never quite as sharp as it should be. The film has some clever scenes and vivid performances, but at times the wallowing in badness is overwhelming. Not a great deal is at stake, and despite Piven’s tasty work, Buddy never seems worth the trouble.

Carnahan may have sent an unintentional bullet into his own foot by creating a few peripheral characters that are so much fun, we resent getting pulled away from them. The brief dialogue exchanges between Piven’s illusionist and Common’s philosophical bodyguard make you think a much better movie could have happened right there.

And the scenes with “Arrested Development” star Jason Bateman are so funny you wish he could have been onscreen the whole time. Bateman has become a go-to guy for short bursts of hilarity (see also “The Break-Up”); it’s high time he got a movie of his own.

Common (left) and Jeremy Piven are two of the stars of the dark action comedy “Smokin’ Aces.”