3000 Miles to Graceland

Rating:
Summary: flawed but occasionally interesting
Review: '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.

Rating:
Summary: Sincerely: I can't believe they produced this thing..
Review: ... I've heard he was an ex-music video director, don't know for sure. The damage he made to the movie industry and to Costner and Russell's careers is unimaginable.

This movie is putrid, mean, bad, disconnected, moralless, cheap and false. Costner as the bad guy is a joke. Cox is a "great and sensitive" mother who taught his son how to commit robbery. All characters are disgusting, you only which they all die as soon as the movie starts.

The "Elvis-disguise-robbery" premise is a plot intended to swindle audiences in the trailers, because it is gone right in the beginning of the movie.

Alright, you can say sometimes it is good to watch a nasty movie. I disagree. I sometimes like trash movies, but the ones who are not completely stupid and with bad intentions like this one.

SKIP IT!

Rating:
Summary: This movie is HIGHLY UNDER RATED...
Review: ...but NOT a blockbuster either. While I found myself really liking this movie, every once and a while something really silly would happen that would make me think 'NO WAY'. But what movie doesn't have at least one or two really stupid scenes in it? That seems to be the Hollywood way any more. I think the director get so envolved with a certain aspects of a movie that they completely overlook a bad line or bad acting or just something really stupid. This movie, from these reviews, is UNDER RATED. Overall, it is a cool action movie with some needless, but entertaining, violence. Thanks

Rating:
Summary: "A little less conversation, a little more action"...
Review: ...would appear to be the director's philosophy, anyway (well, along with "let's see how many different shots we can fit into twenty-five seconds of film"). This movie is bad. And by "bad", I don't mean "good". I mean really, horrifyingly, brain-numbingly, I-Want-To-Jam-My-Eye-Onto-Something-Pointy bad.

Still want to know what happens? Well, okay. There are five men, who rob a casino by dressing up as Elvis and killing a lot of people. When they've done that... oh, I don't know exactly what happens. But does plot really matter, in a movie like this? Doesn't seem like the people who made it think so. More people die, that's for sure, and do it dramatically, flying around and sending blood spurting all over the cartoonishly-coloured desert shots.

I don't have anything against violence, in films. Really, I don't. It's just that generally I like some other things, mixed in with it. And by that, I don't mean those sparkly bikini-clad dancing girls that were intercut, a lot, with the first bullets-and-blood-and-rhinestones killing spree. My other complaint about the gratuitous violence is that not enough of it was directed at David Arquette. Not meaning to sound evil, but he really puts the "Die! NOW!" into "irritating".

Back to the movie. In between the fast-forwarded shots of the desert and the weird techno music (well, kind of underneath the techno music if I'm to be truthful), there's some sort of vague storyline with Courteney Cox as a slutty single mother who alternates between sleeping with Kurt Russell's character whose name I forgot, and running off with all the money and without her son. The son, who is one of those smart-alecky wise-beyond-their-years kids that these kind of movies are liberally sprinkled with, is abandoned with Kurt Russell. (Insert your own "A fate worse than death!" type comment.)

Along its way, "3000 Miles To Graceland" gets hit by every clichéd plot anvil you could think of. There's the one about "the black guy dies first". And the one about "yes, the main character does kill twenty-six people per day on average, but he really does have a heart of gold and family values underneath it all". And the one about... ah, frig it. It's not worth your time or effort.

Sorry, "Graceland". Elvis is dead.

Rating:
Summary: Action, just action.
Review: 3000 Miles from Graceland doesn't try to hide what it is, it puts it right in front of you and says, "Action". Guns blazing, impossible fights, even a high-noon show down (modernized of course), the plot is simple, but it's an action movie. Who wants to figure out the complexities of characters and their emotional status in an action movie. You know they "feel" wounded inside cause he just got shot, that's as far as it needs to go. Buy this movie if you feel like watching a mindless action movie, that has intensity, good battle, and cheesy lines.

Rating:
Summary: What a great lesson: CRIME IS KING- yeah right.
Review: 3000 MILES TO GRACELAND (2001, R= Strong Violence, Strong Profanity, and Sexual Content, including Sexual Dialogue) The Cast: KEVIN COSTNER, KURT RUSSELL, COURTENEY COX ARQUETTE, CHRISTIAN SLATER, JON LOVITZ and DAVID ARQUETTE. The Genre: ACTION/CRIME The Plot: Five thieves pull off the ultimate heist at a casino in Las Vegas dressing up as Elvis impersonators, but soon realize that their gang leader (Costner) is trying to keep all the money himself, leaving one man (Russell) to stop him. What Works: Action to the extreme, which could never be re-created any better- unless they added more to the film. And Kevin Costner's perfect role as the ultimate villain. What Doesn't: This film has nothing much to do with Elvis other than the fact that they dress up as Elvis impersonators to snatch some cash, and that Costner gets p/o'ed when someone says "The King is Dead." The sexual content was way too out of line and has nothing to do with the film's potential- it only departs from it. Also, the in-between sequences when the action is over- it really just drags out the film. If you take the Vegas shootout, the action-packed end, and the battling scorpions in the beginning- then that is really all the action you get. There isn't enough momentum to keep the film going smoothly. Reality Check: To add to its major cliches- the media is trying to get a very "Bad" message to the audience, especially to young kids: CRIME IS KING. The Catch: You will be entertained with action, but the in-between stuff is just nothing worth the hour and twenty five minutes. OVERALL: "This high-octane action films busts metal bars in half with its extreme action and ultimate villain, but fails in the areas of being entertaining the whole way through and giving the audience a positive message. This film goes to show what MTV music video directors will come up with."

Rating:
Summary: 3000 Miles to a Being a Good Movie!!
Review: 3000 MILES TO GRACELAND has a great premise, but bad execution. It has a great cast, but terrible characters. One would think Costner and Russell would be an interesting pair-up. However, there is no chemistry between the two actors. What could have been a good movie turns into a psycho movie vehicle for Kevin Costner. Again, he adds another movie flop under his resume. If all involved had done this right, the film could have been another OCEAN'S 11. Four robbers dressed as Elvis impersonators, headed for Las Vegas for the Elvis Impersonator convention, to rob a casino is a great idea. However, the four never get to perform and the viewers are stuck with another slow motion, shoot'em up, casino heist, that isn't fun to watch and isn't very original. Christian Slater is wasted, as he is killed early on in the movie, while Kevin Costner's psycho, bad boy Elvis persona is not likable or sympathetic. Named actors in minor roles are there only to get killed, the love story between Courntey Cox' character and Kurt Russell's character isn't interesting (except when he bangs her twice in the movie) and once again, for the millionth time, the moviegoers are given a child character who is a smart-..., kleptomaniac thief. One would hope that the Kurt Russell character would beat the [stuffing] out of or even kill this kid because it was the most annoying part of the movie. The tone is all too serious even if some of the banter is comical (it's still mean spirited). The whole Elvis schtick is wasted except at the end when Kurt Russell performs a lipsynch routine of Elvis' great song "Such a Night" during the final credits. However, by this time, it's too late to save the movie. The director should make a sequel to this movie, do it right, and this time use BEATLE Impersonators and call it 6000 MILES TO LIVERPOOL!!

Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good Movie
Review: 3000 Miles To Graceland is a nice crime thriller. Sure it has it's flaws and whatnot but this movie isn't supposed to be an intelligant movie. If you like action movies with good shootouts and lots of violence, this is the movie for you. If you care for intelligance like "Heat", this movie is not for you. The only reason why I gave this movie 4 stars is because there wasn't a real plot to it heh. But I had a great time watching this movie. Oh yeah, one more thing. This movie has NOTHING to do with Elvis! But who cares, Elvis is dead so get over it!

Rating:
Summary: I hate to say this, but I actually had fun watching it.
Review: 3000 Miles to Graceland looked horrible from all the previews. But, as it turns out, after a simply headache inducing first half-hour the movie actually gets significantly better and turns into a very entertaining road trip film. Admittedly, the film could really use some toning down in the direction. Plus, there really isn't a whole lot of action, only in certain select moments. But the movie is quite funny, with a final shootout that seems like a parody of the final gun battle in The Wild Bunch.

To be honest, I did not feel the acting was as horrendous as everyone said it was. Kurt Russell is solid as usual and gets off some good laughs in his typical cocky/charismatic style. It's interesting to see that even though he's our hero and the guy we're rooting for, he doesn't kill a single person in the entire movie. Kevin Costner is pretty hilarious in his deadpan portrayal of a ruthless murderer. Oh, this is certainlly not going to be placed among his best performances, but it can be seen as separating him as far away from possible from his usual performances.

So, the overall film is one that I recommend. It's not quite as dark as I'd heard it would be (this movie has an incredibly happy ending).

Rating:
Summary: A bitter, nasty, dirty film that has little redeeming value
Review: 3000 Miles to Graceland was advertised as a very different movie. I have to say, if I could just watch movies made by the guys who put together previews, I'd be a lot happier.

The preview emphasized the whole Elvis angle. To wit: a bunch of crooks decide to rob a Vega casino dressed as Elvises (Elvi?). Kevin Costner plays Thomas Murphy, the bastard child of Elvis. Actually, there's possibly two bastard children of Elvis in this movie. Ya see, there were 35 claimants stating that Elvis was their pop, but 33 of those DNA tests proved false. So who is the other Elvis-spawn? We're never told.

Anyway, that's all besides the point. That whole Elvis thing? That's not what the movie's about.

In fact, at first I thought the movie was about giant robot mecha. It starts with two computer generated robot-like scorpions battling each other to the death. Only they have big, grinning maws for faces. The black scorpion fights the silver scorpion. One of them is probably supposed to be the good guy. It doesn't matter, the movie seems to say, because they're both mean scorpions and you shouldn't be rooting for either one.

The first half hour of the movie is the aforementioned heist of the casino by the Elvis gang. The potential for entertainment is ruined by weird, stuttery camera shots and a total lack of rhythm. Interspersed between images of Elvis-impersonators firing machineguns are Broadway shows of elvis. But none of it gels quite right.

When we're not seeing Elvis with a gun, which apparently the director thinks is absolutely hysterical since he shows these shots over and over, we're seeing women do naughty sexual acts. Courtney Cox, in the first role as a sexual plaything that I can recall, acts as...well, a sexual plaything (unless you count Ace Ventura too). She also has a thieving little son named Jesse James. He likes to pick pockets and pretend he's a cowboy. There's a lot of Courtney moving up and down in the vicinity of a bed. If you like Ms. Cox, then this is as good as the movie gets.

There's definitely a misogynistic streak running through the film. It's most obvious when a random redhead shows up for no other reason than to provide fellatio for the bad guy - that's Murphy.

I'm no fan of Kevin Costner, but he does play a mad-dog-mean bad guy. The protagonist, if you can call him that, is Kurt Russell as Michael Zane. Russel kicks ass, even in this role. But he can't save this movie. In some twisted, good-vs-evil battle, the two characters go head to head again and again in car crashes, gunfights, and battles of wit. Okay, battles of potty-mouthed swearing.

I expected this movie to be witty, funny, cool in a fashion very similar to Ocean's Eleven. But this movie is like the anti-Ocean's Eleven. It sucks the cool out of other movies playing nearby. It features lots of foul language, the complete desecration of all things Elvis, Courtney Cox's ass, Christian Slater AND David Arquette, child abuse, and women as sex toys. It's a bitter, nasty, dirty film that has little redeeming value.