When mature cop thriller Narc was released in 2002, young filmmaker Joe Carnahan was pegged as one to watch. Then came juvenile shoot 'em up Smokin' Aces, a "garish carnival of drooling lunacy" bizarrely starring Ray Liotta as the one of the few levelheaded gunslingers. To critics it looked like a poor Tarantino rip-off, and it came as no surprise when it bombed at the box office.
An Empty Hand
Carnahan might be trying to be funny (we can never be sure) when he bills this film as "a refined, intellectual drive-in movie" in The Big Gun featurette. He talks about an "effortlessly" constructed "jigsaw puzzle" plot, although he trips on pronouncing the word 'effortlessly' - oh, the irony. In the end, however, he admits it's actually just "an expulsion of all the bad stuff I've been dealing with in the industry..." Cue behind-the-scenes footage of Carnahan bounding around the set laughing like a loon at random scenes of torture and sexual perversity. Ten minutes of outtakes feature more hysteria, and it only goes to show that having fun on set doesn't necessarily make for a good film. "I'm uncomfortable," says Andy Garcia at one point. Yup - we're feeling that.
The Line-Up introduces us to the key players in what we'll loosely call 'the story' of Smokin' Aces. Chris Pine explains his motivation as the weird bare-chested guy with the chainsaw (he likes sawing things), whilst Alicia Keys describes her character as "much more street level" (wears big sunglasses). Ryan Reynolds explains that he was attracted to the script because of the "fraternal, paternal relationship" between his character and Liotta's veteran FBI agent - as if the guns and naked ladies had nothing to do with it.
Big Guns, Small... Minds
A featurette on stunts runs by as quickly as a movie extra in a mass murder scene. That's just enough time for Reynolds to moan about the calluses on his hands from handling big guns and for Affleck to whinge about stinging squibs. Five deleted scenes contain yet more gunplay - an extended version of Martin Henderson's hapless patsy in a face/off with Chris Pine's redneck whack job. There's also a quick cutaway of Henderson crawling out of a lake (for no good reason) and expositional dialogue between Affleck and co. from earlier scenes. An alternative trigger-happy ending is presented separately and proves that, actually, this film could have been more stupid than it already it is.
Perhaps the most revealing aspect of Carnahan's commentary with ADD-afflicted editor (apparently) Robert Frazen is the feedback he says he got from studio execs. It wasn't the scenes of people being casually maimed, minced and merrily shot down that bothered them, but the lengthy exchanges of banter between Affleck and his goons. But for most of the track though, Carnahan and Frazen just try to guess the cup-size on the naked women who randomly crop up. Frankly, these people make Beavis and Butt-Head look like Mensa candidates.
EXTRA FEATURES
Smokin' Aces DVD is released on Monday 7th May 2007.
