There were many flagrant reasons to disregard this film as a simple minded venture into the violent world of action films: Rotten Tomatoes rated it on opening night at 29%, the average reader rating on the Washington Post’s review is one star out of five, and Smokin’ Aces stars not only Common, better known for his musical endeavors, but also fellow musician-turned-actor Alicia Keys. Despite all of this, I walked into the cinema with decently high expectations (seriously, how can you completely disregard any film with Ryan Reynolds in it? Let alone one also featuring Jason Bateman?), and those expectations were met and surpassed.

With movies like Smokin’ Aces there is only one real goal - to entertain, and it follows through on its ambitions. From segments of extreme, over-the-top violence, reminiscent of another great beyond-over-the-top action film Running Scared, to the bizarre nature of the Tremor Brothers (three of the many hit men going after the six figure bounty placed on Vegas entertainer turned state’s witness Buddy ‘Aces’ Israel’s head), Smokin’ Aces delivers over and over again. There are faults: occasional flat patches of dialogue in an otherwise snappy flick, strange schizophrenic pannings between scenes of gore and savagery to shots of human pain and sentimentality overlaid with atmospheric piano, but the film has far too much going for it to get bogged down with small details. Like the final minutes of True Romance stretched out into a feature length film, with obvious cues taken from both Quentin Tarantino and Guy Richie (though these influences remain merely influences and fail to find their own voice or deliver like Pulp Fiction or Snatch), Aces allows us to gleefully throw logic out of the window and watch 50 caliber bullets tear through hotel windows and FBI agents, a man fall on a chainsaw, and witness some of the most depraved and bestial characters all compete for our attention as this film shamelessly pushes onwards through more scenes of brutality, wit, and plot twists.

No, this film will not be remembered as a ‘classic’, nor even a ‘cult classic’, but it should be remembered for being one that delivered on its promise - it entertained. I laughed, I was able to look on as blood covered elevators, hotel rooms and Ryan Reynolds’ face, and the film looked great, wonderfully displayed in colorful and contrasted tones. My heart strings were left untugged, but my love of fast paced action movies, splatter filled shoot outs, and the bizarre were completely indulged in this strange orgy of a motion picture. I may have only given it a three out of five, but those are lovingly filled stars.

Friday nights at the cinema should leave you walking out of a movie unable to truly determine which scene was your favorite, which bit of punchy dialogue made you laugh the most, and, ultimately, to not make you wish you could have that $10 back (or more if you bought the $5 soda and $5 popcorn with synthetic butter flavored syrup). Smokin’ Aces is just that type of film; the perfect embodiment of our collective need to see eccentric abandon on the silver screen.