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</script></div>{/googleAds}Oh, boy... where do I begin with this puppy?

Let's start slow...

Joe Carnahan hit the scene in 1998 with Blood, Guts, Bullets and Octane, which was a decent enough crime flick, and then later with Narc in 2002 which really kicked his career into overdrive. Narc was a good film, with even better performances (by Jason Patric and Ray Liotta). It trumpeted Carnahan as the new action director about to hit the scene. He was going to be the action director for â"grown-ups." He even flirted with directing the 3rd Mission Impossible for a time.

Well folks, consider this one of the biggest setbacks in director history, because Smokin' Aces is absolutely terrible. Terrible with this caveat: you may have a ball watching it.

Smokin' Aces centers around Las Vegas performer Buddy â"Aces" Israel (Jeremy Piven), who has decided to trade his part time drug-dealing career for a turn as an FBI snitch against some pretty powerful mob guys. When word gets out that he's about to talk, all manner of assassins, hit men, and pure lowlifes hit the Lake Tahoe hotel he's staying in to kill him for, wait for it... one million dollars.

And that's pretty much it in the way of plot, dear readers. A lowlife needs to get whacked and several gangs of lower lowlifes show up to kill him. If you're wondering whom you're supposed to root for, you guessed it... there isn't anyone. Our main FBI (Ryan Reynolds and Ray Liotta) are being strung along by their own leaders and show up to the party late. As far as the bad guys go, there's some pretty depraved rednecks with a fondness for mutilation, a liberated all-girl assassin team (led by Alicia Keys), a killer with something more than rabbits up his sleeve, an inept bail bondsman (Ben Affleck) and his buddies, a quick-change artist right out of M:I:III, and several more that I've most certainly forgotten already.

It has got to be one of the biggest all-star casts of the year, outside of The Departed, and everyone pretty much delivers what they're supposed to. The problem with the film is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. An over-the-top actioner? A comedy? A drama? A gangland film? Try all. Put your favorite genre in a blender with the rest, hit puree, and you have this film. Carnahan doesn't even sustain a consistent visual style. At times, it's quick cuts and MTV-style action; at others it's slow-mo and elegant. This film is all over the map, folks.

However, as I said at the outset, there is some fun to be had. Jason Bateman all but steals the film in the one, count it, one speaking scene he's in. Trust me, it's almost worth the price of a ticket all by itself. There's also a rooftop encounter at the end of the film with one of the rednecks that is pure gold. In fact, much of the writing is quick-witted and very funny. The last hour had a good portion of the audience rolling. Often though, you're laughing at the film, not with it. Bizarre changes of tone, misguided attempts at humor, and all of the above make for a very spotty time at the cinema indeed. This is going to be a great double bill with Point Break someday.

So, toss a coin and take your chances, my friends. Smokin' Aces isn't boring, that's for sure. But it's also hardly worth your time in light of much better films that have come before it. Take Kill Bill, Snatch, and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, throw them up in the air and watch the one that hits the ground first. I guarantee you; it's a better choice than this film.

DVD

DVD Details:

Screen formats: Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1

Subtitles: English, Spanish, French

Language and Sound: English: Dolby Digital 5.1.

Other Features: Color; interactive menus; scene access; deleted and extended scenes; two commentaries; making-of featurettes.

* Commentary - 2 Feature-length audio commentaries.
o With Writer/director Joe Carnahan and editor, Robert Frazen.
o With Carnahan and actors Common, Christopher Holley, and Zach Cumer.
* Deleted Scenes - 4 scenes that didn't make the final cut totalling 09:35.
* Featurettes -
o Outtakes (9:28)
o Cowboy Ending (1:06)
o The Line-Up
o The Big Gun (11:54)
o Shoot 'Em Up: Stunts and Effects (4:54)

Number of discs: - 1- Keepcase Packaging{pgomakase}