Film

Smokin' Aces

Name: Smokin' Aces
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Released: 2006
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Andy Garcia, Martin Henderson, Chris Pine, Ray Liotta

A casino performer turned snitch is holed up in a Lake Tahoe penthouse while every criminal outfit in America tries to kill him. It's a gleeful, hyperkinetic action-comedy that treats a body count like a punchline. Ensemble chaos, MTV-era editing, and the kind of film that knows exactly how silly it is.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like crime capers where a sprawling cast of hitmen, feds and lowlifes all converge on one target, and you enjoy loud, jokey bloodshed over tidy plotting.

Skip it if the tone swings hard between gleeful gunfire and crude jokes, and its tangled, fast-cutting story can feel more like noise than design for anyone wanting something measured.

What it asks of you: At under two hours, it barrels forward in constant motion, with short scenes piled atop one another and little room to breathe between the gunfire and the wisecracks.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels1998

Multiple criminal crews, interconnected schemes, dark comedy threading through constant violence. Faster pacing, sharper writing, but the same jackpot-heist energy and willingness to let the plot get ridiculous.

But It's British and grittier in tone—less Hollywood sheen, more East London cynicism. Harder to follow if you're not fully locked in.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels poster

Four Rooms1995

Hotel setting, ensemble cast, mounting chaos in confined spaces, tonal whiplash between comedy and darker beats. Same idea: everything goes wrong in one night, everyone's after the same prize.

But Significantly lower budget and less polished action. Some of the comedy has aged into cringe.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang2005

Ryan Gosling and Robert Downey Jr. in a Los Angeles thriller-comedy with a huge cast of criminals and cops. Snappy dialogue, self-aware humor, plot threads that tangle and snap. Released right around the same era.

But Much more dialogue-heavy and indie in spirit. If you want constant action spectacle, this gets talky in ways Smokin' Aces doesn't.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Smokin' Aces

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Small Time Crooks2000

Both are ensemble comedies about criminal crews whose plans go sideways; one is hyperactive MTV-style spectacle, the other is witty apartment comedy—same engine, entirely different register.

Woody Allen's comedy about a bumbling crew of criminals attempting a jewelry heist. Same heist-ensemble energy, but Allen's deadpan dialogue and New York sensibility create something completely different in tone and era—yet the DNA of 'criminals who are mostly incompetent' is identical.

But It's a Woody Allen film: neurotic, dialogue-driven, zero action sequences. If you're watching for stunts and violence, this will feel like punishment.

The Other Guys2010

Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg in a buddy-cop action-comedy about criminals and cops orbiting the same case. Escalating absurdity, side characters stealing scenes, relentless comedic energy.

But Relies heavily on Ferrell's comedy style—if that's not your lane, the humor will feel forced over the action scenes.

In Bruges2008

Two hitmen in a medieval city; crime, guilt, beauty, and dark humor all woven tight. More serious than Smokin' Aces but with the same sense that nothing will end well and everyone's trapped.

But It's a meditation on violence and death masquerading as a thriller. Slower, sadder, and not interested in being fun in the way you might want.

Tropic Thunder2008

Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr. in a film-within-a-film about actors on a war movie set getting mixed up with real criminals. Constant chaos, huge ensemble, relentless comedic ambition.

But Broad comedy mixed with action—some gags land hard, others fall flat. It's more interested in mocking Hollywood than delivering tight plotting.

Severance2006

British dark comedy about office workers on a team-building retreat in the woods being hunted. Ensemble cast, gallows humor, mounting body count, same year as Smokin' Aces.

But Lower budget and much stranger tone. It commits fully to horror-comedy, which some find inspired and others find uneven.

The Nice Guys2016

Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as mismatched investigators in 1970s LA uncovering a conspiracy. Witty dialogue, escalating chaos, ensemble of oddballs, that same feeling of watching stupid people bumble toward consequences.

But More interested in character and comedy than pure action spectacle. Slower burn than Smokin' Aces' opening acts.

Inherent Vice2014

Paul Thomas Anderson's adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel: a private detective in 1970s LA drowning in a maze of plot, characters, and paranoia. Complex, funny, weird, ambitious.

But Dense, slow, deliberately confusing. If you want clarity and pace, this film actively resists both. It's the inverse of what Smokin' Aces offers.

A Fistful of Dollars1964

Identical plot DNA: one protagonist, multiple crews, one prize, everyone converging on the same location. Smokin' Aces remixed that western template for the 2000s action-comedy generation.

Sergio Leone's spaghetti western with Clint Eastwood: multiple criminal factions fighting over the same prize in a confined space (a small town). Same structure as Smokin' Aces, but in dusty elegance and operatic violence instead of neon chaos.

But Black and white, 1960s pacing, in Italian (with dubbing). The violence is stylized rather than visceral. If you need contemporary action beats, this will feel glacial.

In Good Company2004

Both films orchestrate multiple characters with competing goals in the same space, creating comedy from collision and miscommunication. One explodes into gunfire; the other just watches offices implode.

Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace in a workplace comedy about corporate restructuring and rivalry. Not a crime film—but it shares Smokin' Aces' sense of absurd colliding ambitions, ensemble chaos in a confined setting (an office), and the way incompetent schemes create cascading consequences.

But Gentle rom-com vibes; no violence, no heists, no criminals. The chaos is emotional and professional, not physical. Completely different stakes and tone.