In the style of such movies as Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, The Usual Suspects, and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, director Joe Carnahan (Narc) comes back after four years with this slick interlocking story of big time crime and low lives.

Mafiaso boss Primo Sparazza (Joseph Ruskin) has taken out a sizable contract on a Las Vegas sleazy magician-turned-hood named Buddy "Aces" Israel (the excellent Jeremy Priven of TV's Entourage) who has agreed to turn state's evidence against the mob in Nevada. The highly entertaining plot is set up for the Mafia, bounty hunters led by Jack Dupree (Ben Affleck), a female contract killer team led by the foxy Georgia Sykes (Alicia Keys), and a group of trigger happy wacko Neo-Nazi assassins to collect on the million dollar contract.

Many people may want to compare this film to early Tarantino work, but that would be an insult to Carnahan. This is a fast paced chain reacted film that left me anticipating the next scene, whereas the work of Tarantino is usually awkward and sometimes pretentious.

The plot establishes the characters early on in the film, such as the FBI agents Donald Carruthers (Ray Liotta), and Richard Messner (Ryan Reynolds), and their boss, Inspector Stanley Locke (Andy Garcia). These guys play their parts to the max. These agents place "Aces" in protective custody and stash him in a Lake Tahoe hotel suite. With all eyes on Lake Tahoe, the rogues run into one another, making this a hell of a comic collision. The climax of the film fits perfectly and works well, bringing closure to all the plots and the individual stories of each character.

With a supporting cast of actors like Jason Bateman as the drunken lawyer Rip Reed, a cameo from Wayne Newton, and Common as Sir Ivy, this is a surefire hit.

Directed by: Joe Carnahan
Run time: 1 hr. 48 mins.
Release date: January 26, 2007
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Drama
Distributor: Universal Pictures
MPAA Rating:R