Smokin' Aces
Universal Pictures | Release Date: January 26, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
15
Negative:
8
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The New YorkerDavid Denby
In 2002, Carnahan made an intense and violent little cop film, "Narc," with Jason Patric and Ray Liotta. He seemed to have absorbed the influences of John Cassavetes and Martin Scorsese and come up with a style of his own. I was a fan of that movie, but Smokin’ Aces feels like Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" pushed much further along into lethal absurdity. Read full review
60
VarietyRobert Koehler
Smokin' Aces blows some cool smoke rings until it makes the very un-cool mistake of overstaying its welcome. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Carnahan does have an oddball sense of comic timing; what his picture lacks in hilarity it recuperates with a well-developed, albeit mumbling, sense of the absurd. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
While the film bristles with cinematic verve, it also is as second-hand as an antique store. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Smokin' Aces is Tarantino lite - a vague and unsuccessful attempt to bring together a bunch of offbeat, unrelated characters in a situation where a bloody resolution is inescapable. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A roller-coaster ride that goes on far too long, ends with a colossal crash, then follows that wreck with a lecture explaining the physics of the machinery. My head was spinning for multiple reasons, none of them pleasing. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Smokin' Aces isn't a story, it's a premise with a madhouse of characters flung into a collision course that ends at the same finish line. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
This film was not based on a video game, but that's the vibe and the aesthetic at work here: YEAH! KILL!, followed by a few muttered expressions of the horror, the horror. Read full review
50
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Spends too much time straddling the line between exuberant carnage and serious plotline when it should've gleefully backflipped into the former. Grudgingly recommended, but only if you've put your cerebral cortex in neutral for the evening. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Sadly, more than an hour of this movie is given over to talking. And not the wink-wink Quentin Tarantino kind, either. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie Punter
Twitchy, messy and uneven, it's an action flick that just won't shut up. The movie is somewhat saved by a smattering of wacky minor characters and humorous bits of non-essential business, but they certainly don't add up to a satisfying experience. Read full review
50
PremiereEthan Alter
To be fair, Smokin' Aces isn't a complete train wreck. Carnahan stages a handful of strong action set-pieces, most notably a close-quarters elevator shoot-out involving Liotta and Flanagan, that are a blast to watch. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The plot tangles until it seems irrelevant, the jokes can't push through the somber tone, and the most interesting moment apart from the action scenes involves one character using the corpse of one of the more famous cast members for a grisly ventriloquist act. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
Half the time the movie wants to be balls-out weird, and it is. But the other half – the half with the good guys – is plodding procedural fare. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
It's a grindhouse-inspired concoction that may not contain a shred of originality, but it is executed with unbridled bombast and glee. Read full review
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