For an action seeking movie buff, nothing beats a mafia movie! Smokin’ Aces from Universal Pictures, is right on target. Action filled with a plot that twist and turns enough to keep even a made man at the edge of his seat! Smokin’ Aces, directed by Joe Carnahan(direcor of NARC and Killing Pablo), Smokin’ Aces is full of big name stars like Ray Liotta, Ben Affleck, and Andy Garcia along with music star Alicia Keys.

The movie is set in the present time and starts with two FBI agents (Ray Liotta and Ryan Reynolds) doing surveillance in a hot and cramped van of an old dying mafia boss named Primo Sparazza. During a phone call made from one of Sparazza’s men, the FBI learns of a hit put out on Buddy 'Aces' Israel. Buddy Israel is a Las Vegas show man which worked himself up in the mafia ladder as the protégé of Primo, but eventually turned on Primo in a power grab. Buddy got busted by the FBI and is now negotiating to get off free by rating on his old mafia affiliates. The one million dollar bounty catches the FBI off guard knowing that a full line of top dollar assassins will be coming after Buddy.

A team of bail bond bounty hunters, led by Ben Affleck, and an assortment of thugs-for-hire all converge on Lake Tahoe, Nevada to kill Buddy, while the FBI rushes to save his life. The movie climaxes when the assassins and the FBI engage in a fight to death at one of the local hotels. Buddy’s life is saved for the most unexpected reason with a plot twist that few will see coming.

Overall, the movie had a plethora of exciting action moments, but wasn’t any better than any other run of the mill mafia movie. Smokin’ Aces is definitely a movie worth watching, but don’t expect any nominations for best picture of the year. On a scale of 1 – 10, I would give it a 7.