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Smokin' Joe Carnahan
April 16, 2007

I had a chance to speak with director Joe Carnahan last week about his latest film, the action/comedy Smokin’ Aces, which Universal is releasing on DVD tomorrow morning. Starring Jeremy Piven,

Ray Liotta, Alicia Keys, Ryan Reynolds and Andy Garcia, amongst others, it’s quite an over-the-top affair, filled with cracklin’ dialog, shoot-outs galore, crazy editing, a rip-roaring soundtrack and lots of juicy violence. That said, it’s a lot of fun to pop into the player on a rainy Saturday night, sort of like 'Tony Scott meets William Friedkin.'

“It was intended to equal parts screwball comedy, drama and action—it was really me throwing everything against the wall,” Carnahan told DVDialog. “It was my ‘let it rip’ film--a swansong to this kind of mash-up genre. I probably won’t be doing anything like this again.

Not a huge hit by any means, Smokin’ Aces rang up $36 million at the domestic box office and approximately $80 worldwide, numbers that Carnahan was happy to see. But he’s sure that even bigger audiences will discover it on DVD.

“It did exactly what I thought it was going to do theatrically. The advent of DVD is great for going over the top and for movies that go over the top,” he said. “I always knew that [my earlier film] Narc would find its footing on DVD and that’s where audiences are going groove on this on.

Next up for Carnahan is an adaptation of James Ellroy’s 1992 novel White Jazz, the fourth entry in Ellroy’s “L.A. Quartet” of novels which also include L.A. Confidential (which was crafted into a fine 1997 film by Curtis Hanson) and The Black Dahlia (which was made into a pretty lousy 2006 movie by Brian De Palma). Set to star Geroge Clooney, White Jazz’s screenplay is by Joe Carnahan and his brother, Michael Carnahan. And at this point in the pre-production schedule—shooting begins this fall—the film has Ellroy’s blessing.

James and I have become friends during the the whole process,” said Carnahan. “We’ve tried to stay true to the style of the book, its bluntness and its immediacy."

Posted by Laurence Lerman on April 16, 2007 | Comments (2)