3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)

What the? This movie was so bad, I thought that the Brady Bunch episode where Bobby got lost in the Grand Canyon was more intense! What is this movie's obsession with jarring camera angles? It was like a Spike Jonze album on speed. I can't believe there was a crew for this movie. This was 30 million dollars well spent. Kevin Costner was having a Sealy Posturepedic morning, and the "impersonators" were in the film for nine minutes, total. I want to take a shower and wash off this movie! Rating: 3/10 (I've got an idea for a movie: THE JETSONS: AFTER THE APOCALYPSE)

Fmovies: This started with such great style, color and pizazz, I thought I had discovered a real "sleeper," a film I didn't expect to be good that was turning out to be very entertaining.

Well, after the big Las Vegas heist and shortly thereafter when we got a full look at the wild characters and even wilder action scenes, the film settled down and the dialog took over. Unfortunately, that was the film's downfall as the dialog is either incredibly stupid and-or annoying in the second half of this movie. Most annoying was this young kid, you know - the smart-ass kind that says things NO kid his age would say in real life. He also had a foul mouth, and I don't like to see that from young kids.

All the characters in here are pretty much low-life people, the worst being the one played by Kevin Costner, who seemed to relish this role. If you like low-class people, you'll like this story. I gave it points for the style and the fast-moving story, but it's too unpleasant overall for me.

Costner's best bad guy role since Eastwood's "A Perfect World". He is an Elvis-loving criminal who robs a casino with his buddies and proceeds with plans to annihilate them all before they can collect their share of the loot. Simple set-up, heavy-handed execution. The thing is, though, it works as mindless, forgettable trash. Director Demian Lichtenstein is clearly churning out his Boys Own Gun Movie and he does so with unapologetic enthusiasm and not a single concession to political correctness. Which is refreshing. As usual, Kurt Russell is fine as the guy Costner underestimates and gets a world of trouble from. The climax is predictable, unfortunately, and doesn't leave us with much to chew on, but the overwrought stylings are the thing. The shoot-outs are big and brassy, and there is much collateral damage to be had. The Elvis angle is misleading because it suggests a lighter movie in the "Honeymoon in Vegas" mold; but there is no lightness here, just nihilism and firearm fetishism.

3000 Miles to Graceland fmovies. `3000 Miles to Graceland' isn't quite as dopey as the cover art featuring Kurt Russell and Kevin Kostner clad in Elvis regalia would suggest. Although it breaks little new ground in its already overworked genre, the film does emerge as an efficient crime drama thanks to a gallery of interesting characters, some impressive performances and Demian Lichtenstein's flashy directorial style.

After a shaky first half hour or so, in which the film seems to be struggling to establish its direction and tone, the movie miraculously hits its stride and, thereafter, never really lets up. The story centers around a band of ex-cons, united by their almost obsessive love for the King of rock'n'roll, who decide to knock over a Las Vegas casino dressed as Elvis impersonators. Predictably, the heist serves merely as the pretext for one of them, the obviously psychotic Murphy (Kostner), to cold-bloodedly eliminate his accomplices. The fly in his ointment turns out to be Michael Zane (Russell), the most principled one of the group, who survives the holocaust and spends his time, along with a pretty single mother and her precocious child, trying to keep out of Murphy's way.

In terms of plotting, the film follows a pretty traditional route for this kind of film. However, the characters here seem a bit more fleshed out than they often do in some of those other films, particularly Zane, who seems caught between his criminal inclinations and his innate goodness as a human being. Cybil, the single mother played by Courteney Cox, likewise seems conflicted between genuine love and emotion and the excitement of easy wealth and a life lived on the edge. But it is Kostner as Murphy who sets the real tone for the film. His portrayal of a steely-eyed psychotic killer literally sets the teeth on edge, as he callously mows down scores of policemen and innocent bystanders who happen to get in his way. He makes for a truly soul-cringing villain. Russell, who played the actual legend back in his own younger, more halcyon days, makes a fascinating subtle counterpoint to Murphy's unbridled ruthlessness.

The film is not, however, a total success. For one thing, the violence often seems excessively brutal, graphic and mean spirited for a movie that seems to want to be a lark of sorts (after all, a movie featuring robbers dressed as Elvis impersonators can't be bidding to be taken too seriously). Moreover, the plotting, which far too often relies on unlikely coincidences to keep it rolling, also borders frequently on the incoherent. Finally, the morally ambiguous ending doesn't really sit well with those of us who find a couple of thieves, no matter how charming they may appear to be, unlikely candidates for heroism in the context of a `happy' ending.

All in all, however, `3000 Miles to Graceland' will probably appeal to those who like their crime dramas offbeat, quirky and filled with interesting characters.

I saw elements of "Out of Sight" and "Honeymoon in Vegas" in this action movie. The film deals with a heist pulled off by thieves posing as Elvis impersonators during a convention, and their following dillemas afterwards. The film becomes fairly predictable and unbelievable in the ensuing chaos, as most of the action takes place in showdowns between Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner's characters, the latter of whom claims to be an illegitimate child of Elvis. I thought it was a pretty good movie, and you might find something you like in it.

** 1/2 out of ****

After hearing a lot of bad reports on this movie I was pleasantly surprised when I finally saw it. The acting is good, Kevin Costner's bad guy is great, it's well filmed with a lot of excellent cinematography, combined with absolutely perfect use of the soundtrack from minor audio cues right through to the explosions. This is not a sophisticated movie, but in its genre it is excellent.