Destination: Graceland

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.

Like True Romance, and Pulp Fiction this film is movie junk food that I love to eat. Film purest will classify this film as crap, and so it is; but this is crap that the masses want and the movie elite hates. For action films this is great, a few slow parts, and the action scene at the end got a little predictable, with the high kill counts, but rebounds with a great ending. An old western show down, and being a road movie it gives the junk food escapism I love and need. The acting is great, Costner plays such a great jerk in this film, his attitude makes the viewer dislike him, like a bad guys in wrestling. Costner should keep playing bad guys. I believe this is his strong point. Russell plays the hero or the not too bad bad guy. Russell character is the all American type he acts too the tee. Stay at the end of this film for they have a bonus with the credits, an Elvis video and a funny out take from the film. Taker easy, and give yourself a break and watch this film.

This movie is a very mixed bag. First of all, it's not at all what I expected. I thought this was going to be a comedy where guys stage a heist dressed up as Elvis impersonators. And whilst it kind of is that, it's more of a crime movie and the heist takes place in the first thirty minutes with the rest of the runtime dealing with its fallout. This was very disappointing because based on the premise I was prepared to watch an Ocean's Eleven type of movie where the majority of it is the gang staging the heist and then executing the plan in the last act. There really is no planning involved in this and it just gets straight to it with the robbery being rather disappointing and unrealistic but also somewhat fun due to to how crazy and violent it is. I also wanted to see more of Kurt Russell's stellar Elvis impersonation which he has done so well in the past. There were a few scenes in which we got to see it but not enough when I expected him to be doing it throughout the whole film.

Surprisingly it is Kevin Costner that steals the show in possibly his only role in which he plays a villain, at least the only one where I've seen him do that. He is really unleashed in this movie in a way that I certainly haven't seen before, acting completely different from his usual shtick. Furthermore, the movie looks decent in terms of cinematography and the rest of the cast is also fine. As bad and insanely stupid as the movie is at times it really is entertaining. I can't give it a bad rating when I genuinely enjoyed watching it for the most part despite my complaints. It's the type of movie where you might be getting bored but suddenly Ice T appears hanging from the ceiling mowing people down with uzi's (this actually happens). At times it's laughably bad, especially during the terrible CGI intro and at times a decent enough crime film. However, the one thing that really annoyed me was the soundtrack which is very much of its time as it mostly consists of terrible early 2000's techno and we only get one or two Elvis songs. I'm sorry but In an Elvis themed movie I expect 90% of the soundtrack to be the King so to get techno instead was really grating. All in all though, despite the awful music the movie is certainly watchable and fun for the most part with the show-stealing performance by Costner being its main selling point.

3000 Miles to Graceland (2001) This is a tricky film to rate and review. Do I rate it based off of how entertaining it was or do I rate it based on how terrible it is. I guess I'll meet them somewhere in the middle.

To start with the positives, 3000 Miles to Graceland is very entertaining and keeps you watching. It has a lot of cool effects and great action sequences, and a relatively decent storyline, though ridiculous in many ways. One other thing I have good to say about it is that it has some pretty good cinematography, not always, but often. With an all star cast like they have (personally I love Costner's character) its hard not give it a chance and I think it deserves people watching it, at least fans of action films.

On the other hand, the film is actually pretty terrible. Very bad acting by most of the cast, and a lot of generic and stupid dialog. As I mentioned, it does have a good root idea for the storyline. However, trying to be cool, and more action packed weakened the plot and made the film get worse as it progresses. Top all this off with an obvious and yet unfitting ending and you have 3000 Miles to Graceland.

I think a lot of people will like this film if they are going into it looking for a hardcore action film and not looking for an overall good film. It will keep you entertained but I think whether you like it or not you will probably agree that the action is the only thing holding the film together and making it watchable.

6/10

OK, it a piece of trash. It is one of those guilty pleasures of mine. You know, the movie you are not supposed to like, but can't resist every time it comes on.

I mean, look at this cast: Kevin Costner from The BodyGuard, one of my favorites; Kurt Russell from Grindhouse; Christian Slater and Howie Long from Broken Arrow; Kevin Pollak from Hostage; Ice-T as the token rapper; and the best part of all, Courteney Cox, in a role that is so far from Friends that it is a classic.

This film is funny (Jon Lovitz), sweet (David Kaye), and has more action than you could ever ask for in a heist film. It has showgirls, an Elvis convention, and, I don't care if people diss Costner, Russell, and Cox, the film is just fun to watch.