Guns and Girls

I have to admit that when I sat down to watch "Guns, Girls, and Gambling", I wasn't expecting that much. I thought the title sounded lame (and I still feel that way.) And there was the fact that Christian Slater was in the movie, an actor who has churned out one lame direct-to-DVD movie after another for some years now. But to my surprise, I really enjoyed this movie. The script is very clever, slowly unpeeling one layer at a time, and careful enough to leave some surprises right at the very end. The screenplay is also very funny at times - there were a number of moments when I laughed out loud, something I seldom do when watching a movie. The movie is also very well made on a low budget - I watched the movie on Blu- ray, and it looked very slick and colorful. And Christian Slater is actually pretty good in the movie's central role. But most of the credit for the movie's success is due to writer/director Michael Winnick. I look forward to his next movie.

Guns, Girls And Gambling is an absolute doozy of a film. The term 'so bad it's good' was invented for slapdash mockeries such as this, and with every stylistic cliché and ridiculous tactic, it owns the moniker vigorously. The filmmakers are obvious disciples of the neo noir crime thriller, as we see countless hard boiled walking stereotypes prance across the screen. Whenever a character shows up, a garish font announces them in writing below, which is crime genre 101. This happens so many goddamn times though, that eventually I felt like I was watching Mel Brooks's attempt at a heist flick. It's silly beyond words, derivative enough to give you the onset of dementia and admirably dumb. But... I still had fun, at least in parts of it. It concerns the theft of a priceless Native American artifact from a tribal casino. The perpetrators? A gang of Elvis impersonators with, let's say, interesting characteristics. There's gay Elvis (Chris Kattan), midget Elvis (Tony Cox), Asian Elvis (Anthony Wong) and Gary Oldman Elvis, played by Gary Oldman who looks like he was dared into taking the role at a frat party. The bumbling Elvises break ranks post heist and the plot thickens, or should I say befuddles, with the arrival of every kooky, sassy assassin and archetype under the sun. Now from what I could make out: Christian Slater plays a dude called John Smith, a 'wrong place at the wrong time' type of guy who is swept up into the intrigue and is in way over head. He's pursued by all kinds of unsavory people, and joined by the girl next door (Heather Roop). There's The Cowboy (a salty Jeff Fahey), a gunslinging hit-man who claims to never miss but literally misses upon firing the first bullet. The Indian (Matthew Willig) is a hulking tomahawk sporting badass. The Chief (Gordon Tootoosis) is the casino owner, muscling in on everyone to get back his artifact. The Sheriff (Dane Cook) is a corrupt lawman out for anything worth a buck. Best of the bunch is a snarling Powers Boothe as The Rancher, a good ol' southern gangster who languishes in a white limo longer than the cast list of this movie, chewing scenery as vigorously as his cigar. There's also a sexy blonde assassin called The Blonde (Helena Mattson) who wanders around quoting Poe right before she blasts people's heads off. Its inane, mind numbing eye candy, with a cast that seems to have been blackmailed into participation. There's even a last minute twist ending that seems to have wandered in from a much more serious film. It's quite literally one of the most stupefyingly odd flicks I've ever seen. It's earnestness in aping countless Pulp Fiction style films before it is beyond amusing, and the only thing that will make you laugh harder is how spectacularly and epically it flounders. It's truly B movie gold, and one that demands a watch simply because it's a sideshow unto itself.

Wrote a review on another site, More in reply to this supposed professional critic/reviewer that completely panned the movie. He claimed the comedy was too predictable, why would Gary Oldman do the movie--I think he would've done it for what I think is his best line--watch it and don't miss it--since telling Clarence "Must not be white-boy day" in True Romance. The comedy was predictable on purpose and by design, I believe. Nothing deep,but funny and quite tongue in cheek.Helena Mattson,s character is worth the price of admission!Christian slater is doing an Elvis impersonation again a la 3000 Miles from Graceland. and is working with Oldman again and The big red Caddy convertible is back as the classiest Elvis impersonator get-away car ever. And after True Romance came to mind, I do believe it just might be that same classy Caddy that Bama & Clarence and all that Mafia coke, head west in to seek their fame and fortune. I love when they kinda tie movies in like that!!I watched GGG three times the 1st setting. don't miss it.

I kinda knew what to expect before I hit play. Straight to video. Christian Slater. A title like "Guns, Girls, and Gambling". But, I like Slater, and I also like girls and gambling, so I thought, what the hay.

G3 is, well, Tarantino-light. All the style and fun storytelling, all the fun characters, only the script is pretty bad. The story is fine, but the lines are borderline terrible.

Now, G3 doesn't take itself seriously, which does lighten the mood just enough to get through it. Slater is as good as he can be, and the cast is chock-full of surprising cameo's. This Winnick guy must know a lot of people in Hollywood, but unfortunately, none of them are writers.

The twists in the storyline are nice, and it was nice to see Slater dawn the Elvis sunglasses again. The film does have some comedic moments, and the second-half of the feature is better than the first.

The films' chronological time-jumping is it's best asset. In that way, the film is actually put together quite well, and works, but the writing completely undermines the entire effort.

Falls in the bottom half of the last 100 films that I've viewed, but I didn't feel like I completely wasted my $1.31 at the redbox. I'll be sure to get it back today though.

You MIGHT like this if you liked:Smokin Aces(better), The Big Lebowski(much better), Hit and Run(better), Jonah Hex(slightly better), Operation Endgame(worse), Bunraku(worse).

I think this movie is being unfairly judged by some of the previous reviewers. Yes, as previously stated, it does has Tarantino and Rodrigues overtones but I think that was the idea. Winnick was undoubtedly using the formulas that made both of those Directors/Writers/Actors famous.

Unlike some other reviewers, I liked the movie. The Blonde was right in line with someone that Tarantino would have crafted to include the over the top duel automatics protruding from the hips above her rear. I don't know how she managed to slink around in broad daylight with such devices in plain sight but hey, this is a movie, right? Who can resist watching a flick with Gary Oldman? If you've ever seen The Professional or The Fifth Element, as well as other great performances, Oldman is a classic actor of the highest calibre. Bizarre, yes but still classic.

Powers Booth has had varying success during his career and his appearance in this piece was similar to that in Extreme Prejudice. There is little doubt of his ability if you've ever seen The Jim Jones story about the Jonestown mass suicide in Guyana. As usual he presented a magnetic being that you love to hate.

I think if the movie had the name Tarantino or Rodrigues affixed to it, you would see higher ratings but alas, it may take this director time to reach the pinnacle of success claimed by Quinten and Robert.