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hc74
Reviews
Smokin' Aces (2006)
Nothing That Special
I waited to watch this film with anticipation and felt a bit let down. It's an amalgam of a lot of other "heist" films that have been doing the rounds and there is really nothing new here.
Firstly, there are too many characters in the film, none of whom are sufficiently fleshed out to feel any sympathy for. The other thing is that some of the characters feel surplus to requirements and do not really add anything to the plot. As a result, the characters are neither believable or actually likable. This means the plot suffers and character motivation feels highly flawed.
***SPOILER**** Smokin' Aces also tries to have too many twists and the twist at the end involving Buddy Israel and Primo feels half baked and forced like the writer felt like he had to come up with one almighty twist or else.
The films feels like one giant slickly shot TV commercial for a car or something. It's trying too hard to be cool, likable, smart, funny and edgey but in doing so ends up feeling really contrived.
The film is still none-the-less watchable as a throwaway piece of action but at the end of the day, I don't think it has staying power or longevity and I'm not sure if anyone will really remember it 10 years down the line.
South West 9 (2001)
Am I alone in hating this movie
This is possibly one of the worst films I have ever seen. The plot and characterisation is clumsily handled. There isn't one character you feel sympathy for and all in all I felt that the film lacked charm or warmth. All of the characters felt like sketches and not real people you could identify with or feel empathy. The multi plot storyline popularised by Guy Ritchie is used to no real positive effect. The message of crack addiction ruins lives whilst unsettling was sanctimonious. Saying crack addiction is a not good for you is like saying the Sun is hot. The depiction of Brixton was passé and out of date. The film makers made Brixton look like something out of the early 90's. I sat through 2 hours of monotonous rubbish and I wish I had listened to my partners requests of wanting to hire You Me and Dupree instead. I am struggling to find any redeeming qualities about this film. I can safely say that I would live a happy and content life if I never laid eyes on this film again. Rubbish with a capital R.