13 Incredible Moments In Otherwise Forgettable Movies

4. Messner Pulls The Plug - Smokin' Aces

The Movie: Though marketed as an energetic, star-studded action extravaganza, oh how disappointing it was that Joe Carnahan's Tarantino-aping comedy-thriller turned out so stunningly workmanlike.

Surely co-written by cocaine, the movie's script is desperately wacky, begging for the viewer's attention while failing to actually earn it with compelling characters, witty dialogue or even basically satisfying action sequences.

The Scene: The movie's final three minutes very nearly justify sitting through everything prior, as FBI agent Messner (Reynolds) learns that the gangster he's been fighting to protect the whole time is actually a pawn in a complex FBI operation which has unnecessarily cost a ludicrous number of lives, including Messner's partner (Ray Liotta).

In protest, Messner locks himself in the hospital room with the two informants central to the FBI's plot, Buddy Israel (Jeremy Piven) and his father Primo Sparazza (Joseph Ruskin), literally pulling the plug on their planned heart transplant and destroying the FBI's convoluted plan in one fell swoop.

What really makes this scene is the music: Clint Mansell's "Dead Reckoning" kicks in just as Messner pulls the plug, and the audience is left on one brilliantly chaotic final note as Messner smugly watches while FBI agents try to break the door down.

If only the rest of the movie were this luridly thrilling.