ROTJ: JOE CARNAHAN'S SMOKIN'ACES & THE JAMES' FILM CREW MEETING #2
It was the second scheduled meeting of The James' Film Crew, and I had chosen
Smokin' Aces as our new flick. After watching Pan's Labyrinth last week, I wanted something in a completely different direction, and this seemed like the perfect candidate. The film was shot with Carnahan's penchant "shaky cam" action sequences, much like Greengrass and others today, and his flawed characters that display their true natures when embroiled in impossible situations. The plot was fairly simple...the mob wants Buddy "Aces" Israel, played by Jeremy Piven, dead, and they send out a million-dollar contract which gathers a group of competing hit men together at his hotel to kill him. Add Ray Liotta and Ryan Reynolds to the mix as FBI Agents attempting to prevent the hit, and you have the typical "shoot-0ut" plot that seems commonplace. (There is a "twist" that supposedly happens later, but the first half is dreadfully easy to figure out, and the last half doesn't matter) I knew that if Carnahan managed to give us characters that were alive, and had journeys to complete within the film, that the plot would be largely irrelevant, and much enjoyment would be had. Unfortunately, Carnahan failed. The flick wasn't awful, and I did like parts of it very much. Alicia Keys was fine in her role as a hit-woman, Ben Affleck and Peter Berg complemented well as bail-bondsmen sent by Jason Bateman's coked-out lawyer to retrieve Buddy Israel, and Liotta and Reynolds put forth decent performances which seemed out-of-place in this emotionally-empty vacuum of a film. I'm not saying that deaths and violence have to have profound meanings or implications...not every film is a meditation on the nature or consequences of violence like Unforgiven, or A History of Violence, but where Tarantino and even Guy Ritchie succeed in action flicks is in combining brutality and humor inside their invented stylistic worlds...the violence doesn't resonate deep emotional blows, or cause the audience to search for meaning since it's part of the stylistic texture of the film. Carnahan's film, on the other hand, seems abrupt and, absent this style that Tarantino and Ritchie have, it leaves you wondering if you should care deeply when characters die, and even feel cheated when they die and you don't...because ultimately the characterization was brief and shallow. Overall, I thought Jason Bateman's performance was outstanding and hilarious, the kid without his Rita
lin doing Kung-Fu was absolutely insane, and others will claim Jeremy Piven was awesome...but I can't stand Piven, so I wasn't impressed.
Smokin' Aces as our new flick. After watching Pan's Labyrinth last week, I wanted something in a completely different direction, and this seemed like the perfect candidate. The film was shot with Carnahan's penchant "shaky cam" action sequences, much like Greengrass and others today, and his flawed characters that display their true natures when embroiled in impossible situations. The plot was fairly simple...the mob wants Buddy "Aces" Israel, played by Jeremy Piven, dead, and they send out a million-dollar contract which gathers a group of competing hit men together at his hotel to kill him. Add Ray Liotta and Ryan Reynolds to the mix as FBI Agents attempting to prevent the hit, and you have the typical "shoot-0ut" plot that seems commonplace. (There is a "twist" that supposedly happens later, but the first half is dreadfully easy to figure out, and the last half doesn't matter) I knew that if Carnahan managed to give us characters that were alive, and had journeys to complete within the film, that the plot would be largely irrelevant, and much enjoyment would be had. Unfortunately, Carnahan failed. The flick wasn't awful, and I did like parts of it very much. Alicia Keys was fine in her role as a hit-woman, Ben Affleck and Peter Berg complemented well as bail-bondsmen sent by Jason Bateman's coked-out lawyer to retrieve Buddy Israel, and Liotta and Reynolds put forth decent performances which seemed out-of-place in this emotionally-empty vacuum of a film. I'm not saying that deaths and violence have to have profound meanings or implications...not every film is a meditation on the nature or consequences of violence like Unforgiven, or A History of Violence, but where Tarantino and even Guy Ritchie succeed in action flicks is in combining brutality and humor inside their invented stylistic worlds...the violence doesn't resonate deep emotional blows, or cause the audience to search for meaning since it's part of the stylistic texture of the film. Carnahan's film, on the other hand, seems abrupt and, absent this style that Tarantino and Ritchie have, it leaves you wondering if you should care deeply when characters die, and even feel cheated when they die and you don't...because ultimately the characterization was brief and shallow. Overall, I thought Jason Bateman's performance was outstanding and hilarious, the kid without his Rita
lin doing Kung-Fu was absolutely insane, and others will claim Jeremy Piven was awesome...but I can't stand Piven, so I wasn't impressed.Our crew this week included the lovely Sheena B-N, her husband the stoic Jeff N, Gallac & Jamin, Williams, Lazenby, and the amazing Kaitlyn G & Rachel M at the flick but not at the lunch following. I hope this crew keeps meeting in various forms, and will be sending out the invites for next week soon...I'm thinking Notes On A Scandal looks good unless something else turns up. Until next time...The James is out.
posted by The James at 6:16 AM
2 Comments:
Jason Bateman was in this movie!!!!!!
God damn it!!!!!!!
-Lazenby
for like five minutes
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