Smokin' Aces

            Welcome to the world of organized crime. It’s a familiar set up, but takes a whole lot of twists. Agents Messner (Dane Cook, Mystery Men) and Caruthers (Ray Liota, Turbulence) are FBI agents assigned to Mob Boss Primo Carlazzo. An old school Sicilian boss.

            They’re investigation shows them the feud between Primo and his newest partner, Buddy Israel (Jeremy Piven, PCU), which has exploded as Israel turns federal snitch, and Primo puts a million dollar hit on Israel. All hell breaks loose as various strange and different hitmen vie for the contract on Israel. Jack Dupree (Ben Affleck, Reindeer Games) is his bale bondsman who gets a group of ex-cops together to try and cash in.

            It’s a cat and mouse game as 4 or 5 different parties attempt to get Israel all amidst the Lake Tahoe resort backdrop. Meanwhile the FBI Agents director (Andy Garcia, Ocean’s 11) changes everything when he receives a recently de-classified file from FBI Intel.

            It’s a huge cat and mouse game and the ending is actually quite unpredictable. Cheers to newcomers Cook and Alicia Keys, both crossing the line from different medias to do surprisingly well in this bizarre and mixed up caper. 2.