Aces (2006) User Reviews (18)

A bad beat...

[mjs1234 · 2/10 · 6 October 2006]

Three college girls try to make big money by cheating on the 'underground poker' circuit, but get in over their heads.

Basically the script is terrible and the acting lame, a bit like a porno movie without the porn.

Guess it was just made to cash in the increased popularity of poker, but its no Rounders or Cincinati Kid, its not even in the same league as Maverick. The girls use lots of poker terminology, but it sounds unnatural and forced, as if they have no idea what they are talking about.

Best avoided.

a bad version of rounders

[TheGOLDENWALRUS · 2/10 · 17 October 2006]

First of all I knew what I was getting myself into when I watched this film. I knew it was going to be badly produced, acted, etc. But that doesn't explain the mess this movie was.

Plot holes were common in this movie. The acting was hilarious. But most importantly, the audio was very awful. It wasn't really the camera shots that bothered me as some of the cinematography was actually pretty good. Yeah some of the camera shots prolonged but they did well for the 5 dollar budget this movie equipped. The audio was horrible. It was not at all clear and it would be amazing if they even boom-miked the actors. The three girls were hilariously awful except maybe Brooke (Lacey Toups). But she still wasn't anything special but very attractive.

The whole plot was three girls would cheat their way in poker games by simply putting a dye on all the aces. Than Toups character would put on x-rayish glasses that would see the dye so the other players couldn't. Eventually Toups' character got tired of cheating and wanted to win for real.

It was also funny how this movie was "unrated" when it very much could just be labeled as an R rated movie. The f-bombs were very badly placed and seemed to be thrown in their to give in the R/unrated rating. There was only one nude scene that had nothing to do with the movie and was hilarious how badly the director tried to fit it in the storyline.

I have to admit, the producers had connections because it is at the videostore that I work at.

Worst Poker Movie of All-Time

[ugotd8 · 2/10 · 6 October 2006]

This has to be one of the worst poker movies I've ever seen.

I've played poker at low and high limits and in casinos and private games. The only accurate part of the game the director and screenwriters got right was the fact that we do indeed use cards to play hold'em.

The ending was lame, not even slightly plausible.

The lame montage that shows the lead character going to the ghetto to play hold'em was downright laughable.

Oh, and the acting, in a word, horrible. I gave it a 2, because the director managed to remember to remove the lens cap before shooting.

Awful Movie

[Randy_Lovely · 1/10 · 26 October 2006]

This is my first comment here, and this movie was so terrible I felt compelled to make it my first. With it's popularity on TV, probably about 5% of the US population knows how to play Texas Hold 'em. It was unfortunate for the producers that none of those 1.5 million people were available during the shooting of this movie. In addition to the terrible acting and pathetic script, technical inaccuracies abound. These things wouldn't have been a problem if the movie had turned to soft-core porn flick, it would have matched the rest of the production perfectly.

There were four things I really liked about this movie, the three beautiful girls and the '68 (?) Camaro one of them drove. Aside from that, this doesn't even qualify as a B movie. Maybe D-.

This is one hour and thirty minutes of your life, you'll never get back...

[mrLiek · 1/10 · 13 November 2006]

If you love Texas hold'em, do not watch this movie. Actually, it doesn't mater if like it or not, DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!

The acting in "Aces", was just horrible. It makes porn actresses look like possible candidates for an Academy Award. And the cast of this movie are just as credible as Elijah Wood in Hooligans. Because, we all know one of these playboy models majoring in math and kicking ass at the poker tables.

Then again, good actors wouldn't have covered the predictable and shallow plot in this movie. Saying that it's more interesting to watch paint dry, would be an exaggeration, but it's very close to it.

If you're interested in Texas Hold'em, I'd recommend you watch a show called "Tilt", that aired on ESPN in 2005. It's tense and exciting, and have some good poker scenes. In general, it's good television, something "Aces" isn't.

How does this guy keep making films?

[bo-85 · 2/10 · 11 October 2006]

The acting in this film is very poor. The film contains no drama it is bland from start to finish. Most movies shot on video try their best to emulate the look of film. This movie was shot on 35MM film but it look like a badly shot video. The director made a big deal on how they flew down to Rio De Janeiro to film the end of the film. But nearly all the scenes takes place in a hotel room which could have been shot anywhere. The director must have double vision, since he always frames a shot like there are extra people off to the side. All the shots leave too much room around the actors. Also the depth of focus is too wide. Most films use a shallow depth of focus so that only the actors are in focus.

Porn experiment gone bad?

[A_Gooner · 1/10 · 8 July 2009]

I never got to see this movie fully thank God, but i did catch big chunks of it on TV, and I have to say this is awful, absolutely gutting! The setting, music, acting and script all seem to be indicative of soft porn but somehow it isn't, and worst of all they always make porn references. The closest to porn is probably the hotel room incident with the blonde girl, but even that is weird.

The girls are gorgeous make no mistake, and I still think that they had failed porn careers (alongside the producer) then changed their names and wanted to go legit (since my searches didn't show much)! However, this movie is HIGHLY unrecommended even to the poker die hards! Bottom line, you are better off without this junk, go play poker or watch a soft porn flick instead!

Holy carp this movie sucked!!

[wukyjhoxkoamb · 1/10 · 9 December 2007]

First off, i wish there was a way to give a negative rating on movies. Second, i cant believe someone sat there, read the script, thought it was good. Shot a pilot, thought it was good. Went out and drummed up money, got a cast, shooting crew, scouted locations... I mean come on. SERIOUSLY!! burn every copy ever made and kick the producer in the nuts. I swear if he thought this was his big break or something, it was not his big break. It must have been some porno producer that wanted to "go legit" I never, ever make comments on movies, but I am seriously upset with myself I even spent the time to skip forward thu the whole movie. I saw about 3 seconds of tits. that was it. a complete cock up. a waste of time. dig a hole and put this in the ground. im sure that if i took a crap in a bucket and smeared it on my TV I would have enjoyed it more than watching that movie. its almost so bad that i would love to give it out as a gift to people I hate! kill it, kill it now, and kill it fast!! i feel sorry for whoever sunk money into this thinking they were going to make it rich.

Rounders With Chicks

[ZCT · 1/10 · 19 November 2006]

Imagine Rounders, take out the good acting and plot, take out the reasonably accurate rendition of poker, and add three women who look good, but can't act. That's about it.

Three girls figure out a way to cheat at poker, but then one of them decides they should learn to beat the game straight. So in a matter of weeks she learns to become a world class poker player.

The movie is a complete joke. The poker scenes are completely unbelievable. Half the time they are playing high stakes poker with the kind of chips that they sell in sets at the mall for $20. There are endless mistakes in the movie, too many to mention. One of the most laughable is the big tournament they play in Rio, where they play on a huge round table. Every time they go all in they practically throw their cheap chips into the pot so there is no way of knowing what the bet is. Then because the table is round the dealer can't even reach the chips to put them in the pot! I was not surprised the movie was junk. I just thought I would have it on in the background. There is a reason it is straight to video and no one bothered to rate it.

Okay, so this move is not offensively bad like Battlefield Earth, but it is pretty damn bad. Low budget, poor quality, kinda like soft porn, without the porn. Very weird. If you want to watch a movie about poker give this one a miss. If you want to see some girls that can't act go on a completely unbelievable adventure during their summer vacation, and don't mind low budget crap, take a look at this movie. Otherwise you might just as well watch Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

By far one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my life.

[xbgt85 · 1/10 · 5 December 2006]

For bad acting and three girls who cant even spell poker then this movie is for you. I have never acted in my life and could do a better job then these girl. They must of found them on the side and the road and wanted them to do the part. The acting is forced and they seem like they have know idea what they are talking about.

For anyone in the poker scene do not waist your time with this movie. There have been good poker movies for the poker scene such as rounders. This is a movie worth watching. I just feel bad for anyone that paid money for this It is by far the worst movie i have ever seen in my life.

Clever, Cards, Cuties

[coryshpprd · 6/10 · 7 October 2006]

Hey, it isn't "Rounders" but it's a clever low-budget movie about three girls that scam the underground poker circuit in Southern California, Vegas and finally Rio De Janerio. Naturally, all three are hot, but each has their own role to play in the scam and the dynamics between them is well crafted. One is drawn into the threesome unwillingly, through which the audience learns Texas Hold 'em and the scam. Their challenges with different poker games and the conflicts that arise between the girls keeps you interested from beginning to end.

I'm a poker player (who isn't these days), and the hands are thoughtfully played out and the scam isn't some 'no brainer'. It's more complex than "Shade", that's for sure.

"Aces" is definitely for the cards and the girls, but it's pretty clever, too. I enjoyed it.

I should've folded.

[dmanyc · 1/10 · 2 December 2006]

I watch a lot of poker shows, from the WPT to the WSOP. So when I saw an ad for ACES in one of those poker magazines and that it was on video-on-demand, I decided to give it a try. I'm sorry I did. As Mike "The Mouth" would probably say, this film was made by a bunch of donkeys.

How bad is this film? It's films like these that I'm sorry MST3K is not around. They would've had a field day with this one.

Bad faux-'80s music, stiffer-than-the-dead acting, the camera lingering so long you can't tell who's talking, overlong shots of Brazil that I was beginning to wonder if I watching the Travel Channel, incorrect dealing of the community cards, the tournament in Brazil that takes place not in a poker room but in a hotel room, etc. There's probably more that I missed, but you get the idea. A previous review said it best: it's like soft core porn without the porn. But I doubt even porn could've saved this atrocity.

Don't go all in with ACES!! (pun intended)

Worst Poker Movie EVER!!

[BobSchmickle · 1/10 · 6 December 2006]

OMG it was so bad! I can't believe I actually watched the whole thing. The writing was HORRID and the acting was worse. If you know anything about poker, this movie will irritate the crap out of you. Scene after scene of total screw-ups. Playing out of turn at random, folding and losing all of your chips even though you still have a big stack in front of you, betting 40,000 with a big stack of blue and calling with a big stack of green, then betting 40,000 with a short stack of green in the very next move... One guy even deals backwards. Inconsistencies throughout! And the mediocre "eye candy" doesn't make it any better. You can see way too much cellulite during the gratuitous bikini scenes.

The idea behind the movie is kind of nice, but the absolute slaughter of the game is too distracting. The "pretty funny" outtakes during the credits are better than most of the acting throughout.

Spend an hour watching grass grow or paint dry... it will be better spent!

an ensemble of stiff B-list actors

[KyokoFukada · 3/10 · 3 October 2006]

this movie about three gals who try to cheat at poker to make money at first had me intrigued, since i love anything dealing with poker! we are first introduced to the con leader Elle who shows her two friends the underground poker scene. the three girls are soon making money the easy way as they go from one illegal casino to another. they make a killing against a seasoned pro named Mr Chow, who we will see later on in the story. Brooke who sees how easily the money is made to try and make it at a legal casino and gets overconfident. she does this by herself without cheating and promptly loses all the money while her friend Piety is sleeping and Elle is getting her groove on. a fight ensues between Brooke and the other two and we see Brooke trying to make a living going back to a 9 to 5 job. but she soon realizes that poker is her calling and the three mend their fences, and get an invitation to a big tournament in Rio DE Janeiro. this invite was sent by none other than Mr Chow who gets his chance for revenge against the three. Brooke is made to play against a tough table of pros without cheating. this movie actually had a great premise, but got bogged down by poor acting. they were all stiff as they come, heck the loosest actor was the cowboy that Elle gets acquainted with! all in all a waste of time if not for the eye candy.

Aces never win.

[Bubbagr · 5/10 · 25 January 2007]

It's usually a good idea to avoid attempts to cash in on a worldwide fad, and this is no exception. The acting from pretty much everyone was horridly canned and boring, and the attempt at making the main trio sound well-versed in poker lingo was, well, less than spectacular. The only decent actor in the entire hour-and-a-half long skid-mark on poker is the Asian mobster, Mr. Chow, and his acting wasn't even all that great.

-Spoilers Below-

Three college-age girls get together over a summer and try to take the world of Texas Hold'em by storm. By cheating. The "review" on the back of the box makes it sound like they actually try to have some skill, but instead, they resort to marking the Aces (hence the title) by an invisible dye and reader glasses that the main character uses to see the dye.

-End Spoilers-

The main trio of actresses fit almost every stereotype there could be for college-age women, the super witch, the clueless and yet genius main character, and the spoiled brat/hold 'em whiz.

Best to miss this one, only see if you want to waste an hour-and-a-half on a poor attempt at a poker flick.

Paid $0.99 for the DVD at a used book store and grossly overpaid.

[joel-642 · 1/10 · 23 December 2011]

"A movie about 3 hot chicks and poker how bad could it be?" This is what I asked myself prior to shelling out $0.99 at a used book store clearance rack. I wish I could have my time back and so I feel compelled to warn you not to waste your time and maybe my time is well spent saving yours. The production quality is a few steps below bad porno. (without the redeeming effect of the porno itself). I get the feeling that all involved's last production was porno and couldn't pull the strings on these girls. A strip poker scene could have saved this one possibly. (at least for a few minutes). Anyways, no person involved in this movie could have known anything about the game of poker and probably did very little research except maybe watching a couple EPSN WSOP episodes. One scene has them even playing poker on a GLASS DINING TABLE!! Even the most moronic home-gamers know this doesn't work on so many levels. At about that scene 10 minutes in, I tried to fast forward to anything that resembled poker. To no avail. I implore you to never stain your DVD players optics with this piece of trash. WOW. This was possibly worse than Cabin Boy. (my all time worst flick)

Aces is Worth the Buy-In

[mmarinaldi · 7/10 · 21 October 2006]

"Aces" is a story about three girls who scam the underground poker circuit with a mixture of brains and hi-tech gadgetry. It's a low-budget film and can't be compared with the likes of "Rounders", but the hands are well thought out, and the relationships between the girls is believable (one is the newbie, another the patsy, and the third is the schemer/sexy decoy).

The scam tests their skills and their friendship, finally ending in Rio for the big game. The director keeps the energy/conflict going between them, and the writer did his homework re: poker. I liked that one of the girls stopped cheating and wanted to rely on her "smarts", and how she made a stand for her friends. I thought that sent a good message.

All in all, a fun and enjoyable little film. And don't miss the out takes during the credits - pretty funny.

Hot girls and poker. Oh my!

[darkswan · 6/10 · 12 October 2006]

Honestly, I kinda enjoyed it. It's like one of those guilty pleasures like "Roadhouse" with Patrick Swayze. Okay, the girls aren't going to win any Oscars. But they were all hot and I'd take any one of them home to mommy. I thought the script was pretty good. It's unfortunate, but bad acting tends to make people think it's the writing. It's not in this case.

One thing most people don't understand is that these movies have extremely low budgets, often times shooting an entire movie in ten or twelve days. I'm sure that's the case here, in which case it is amazing what they pulled off. Sometimes these guys have to shoot 10-12 pages a day, which is extremely daunting.

A thumb and a half up!