Rating: Summary: Nobody does Elvis better. Review: Who does the better Elvis, Kurt Russell or Kevin Costner? Kurt Russell! No contest. Is this casino-robbing, car-chasing double-crossing pair of cons worth watching? You bet. It's a fun ride all the way from Vegas to Vancouver in Demian Lichtenstein's first film, 3000 Miles To Graceland. This would make a great drive-in movie. Lots of style, a dash of substance and lots of shooting and explosions. You can tell our director was real interested in 'getting the shot'. The movie is really just a series of great shots, from our gang of Elvis-impersonating cons walking through the casino to Kevin Costner driving through the desert lighting a cigarrette as a gas station goes up in a ball of flame behind him. Yeah baby! The premise may be simple, but the plot is kind of convoluted. Kurt Russell blows into town, hooks up with Courtney Cox Arquette for a quick fling, meets up with bad-boy Costner, dresses up like Elvis and rides off with three expendables to rob a casino. The heist works, but Costner pulls a double-cross leaving Kurt Russell with dents in his handy bullet-proof vest. Russell winds up with the money, the girl and her smart-mouthed son on his way to exchange his hot millions for cold cash. Costner chases him. The girl runs off with the money! Russell chases her, but Costner gets to her first. Russell and the kid get her back and all three go after the money again. Back and forth the money goes, until the final confrontation complete with explosions, shooting and a gratuitous Ice-T. Oh, and did I mention that Russell and Costner could be Elvis' illegitimate children? Oh yeah. It's hard to know who the director wants the audience to identify with though. Is it Russell's understated con with a heart of gold, or Costner's con without a conscience, taking what he wants when he wants it? Since Kurt Russell's character has a good side, i'll say it is him. Lichtenstein has quite a bit of fun with Costner though. Clearly Costner has taken a seminar at the John Travolta cooler-than-my-costar school of acting. Much of his story line is told as if in a video-most of the one liners and money shots are his. In other words, the bad guy has all the fun. Kurt Russell has spent his career playing likable characters, and this one is no exception. He plays his sequin-wearing convict with a humanity that's almost too fine for this movie, but he seems to have a good time doing it. Costner enjoys himself too, as a sociopathic would-be son of the King. He really hams it up in this one, and the director favors him with music video-inspired imagery and a killer soundtrack featuring Filter, Hednoize and of course, Elvis. Courtney Cox Arquette made her trashy, opportunistic mom interesting and likeable, especially onscreen with Kurt Russell. This is a very enjoyable film, in a 'movies for guys who like movies' kind of way, only chicks will dig it too.
Rating: Summary: Please tell us a different story. Review: Please no more stories about a heist gone bad. And I am sick of every movie producer or director who thinks they can boost the production and artistic value of a picture by showing us scenes of Fremont St in Vegas. And how many times do we have to pay homage to Jim Thompson's the Getaway? Is there any writer out there who has a spark of originality?
Rating: Summary: Wake me when we get there. Review: Another postmodern heist caper featuring (big shock) a gang of Elvis impersonators. Disagreeing with the general consensus that the Elvis Presley legend provides inexhaustible funds of storytelling material for the movies (I wish they'd just let him rest in peace), I was all the more ready to give *3000 Miles to Graceland* a wide berth. What changed my mind was Kurt Russell's presence here -- a man who can do a hell of an Elvis impersonation. (He proved it in a classic made-for-TV movie many years ago. Sadly enough, he gets little opportunity to show it off in this movie.) I must admit I was also frankly curious about a project that attracted such a formidable Hollywood "A-List": Russell, Kevin Costner, Courtney Cox, et al. Having now seen it, I must also admit that I have no idea why they agreed to do the picture. I hope everyone was well-paid. When one sees a gang of Elvis impersonators walking toward the camera, one probably expects some sort of comical hijinks, or at least the PROMISE of comical hijinks. What one doesn't expect is the ludicrous wholesale slaughter, replete with arterial bloodspray, scores of cops and other guards mowed down, innocent people running in terror, so forth. One minute the movie is trying desperately to make you laugh; the next it's trying to blow you away with silly slo-mo "action"; the next it's tugging feebly at your heartstrings. But such inconsistency shouldn't be surprising: from what I gather, the director, Demian Lichtenstein, did his apprentice work in music videos -- not exactly the ideal environment in which to learn the craft of moviemaking.
Rating: Summary: As bad as it comes Review: I was very excited to see this movie, but could not have been more disapointed. This movie doesn't know if its serious, funny, dark, dangerous, emotional or exciting... and as a result its none of the above. This movie may be one of the worst movies I have ever seen. The action is fantastically ungripping, the dialoge is [poor], the plot is everchanging in its non-existance, and the ending is aweful. Save your money and two hours of your life by doing anything else except watching this piece of waste.
Rating: Summary: I Know This Was A Bad Flick, But Why Did I Liked It So Much? Review: THis Movie falls in the category of Bad Movies that I love. It ranks right up there with Point Break, Tango and Cash and Road House. THe premise/storyline of each of these movies were ridiculous, the acting was decent at best and the action over the top. But I could watch them in their entirety any day of the week. I watched 3000 Miles the other night and totally anticipated that I would turn it off after 5 minutes. Guess what? I loved the flick! I know that I shouldn't, but I did. It is a new entry to my infamous list.Costner finally played a true bad guy and he did a great job at it. Russell was solid as always. Courtney Cox? She wore nice outfits. Was this movie Hamlet? No. Was it fun in an incredibly sadistic type of way? Absolutely. If you are looking for an action/adventure movie, that let's you turn your gray matter off for just under two hours of sustained mayhem and aren't too squeamish or worried about the technical finer points of a plotline, than this is your movie. Howie Long and Jon Lovitz are in this film for god sakes! What was anyone expecting? I know five stars is too many. But this movie was fun dammit. Settle down people.
Rating: Summary: "Kevin Costner Has Left The Building!" Review: You have to wonder what genuis of a studio head gave the greenlight to "3000 Miles From Graceland," a movie that actually misfires in every direction. The wholesale slaughter in the first ten minutes coupled with the fact there's not one single line of funny dialouge eliminates it from being a comedy and since the heist is pulled off at the beginning, it's out of contention as a suspense caper. The initial idea of a group of Presley impersonators robbing a Las Vegas casino during "Elvis" week might have had some promise as kind of a redneck "Ocean's 11", but the robbery is pulled of at the top leaving the audience with nothing to do but watch Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell try to outsmart and double cross each other in a road film that would have been laughed off the screen 30 years ago. The writers throw in Courtney Cox as a trailer park lollipop, probably figuring her following from "Friends" would bring the right demographics into the theater (It didn't happen), but her part amounts to nothing. Costner probably thought playing a villian might give him a break from the nice guy image on the screen he's developed since the 80's, but the screenplay gives him nothing to work with, and Kurt Russell is around simply because of his resemblance to the King (he played Elvis in a TV biopic in 1979). "3000 Miles From Graceland" could be retitiled "Imbeciles 11!"
Rating: Summary: What went wrong? Review: All Star cast and a good story, but something happened that let this movie to be a very mediocre one. The Director failed with the cut of the movie, is like a lot of stuff is missing and the movie is very LOOOONGGG!!! I guess he got lost in the way. But after all is a movie you can watched once to pass the time.
Rating: Summary: Hit&Miss Film Review: this film is interesting in different spots but like so many films out nowadays it starts off way too slow&the pacing takes a while to catch on.the Film never holds up well enough for me all the way.Costner does a Decent job in it.but overall this is a Basic Rental not a Repeat watching.
Rating: Summary: A one of a kind movie Review: In what may be the darkest comedy since "Very Bad Things", "3000 Miles to Graceland" is loud, nasty, violent, and funny as hell. Kurt Russell is getting too old to play the action hero, so its a twist of fate for him playing an Elvis impersonating antihero. The storyline is simple at first, Kurt Russell plays an Elvis lover who just got out of jail, has a fling with a surprisingly good Courtney Cox, then joins his old buddy fellow Elvis impersonator Kevin Costner and his partners Christian Slater and David Arquette. The plan is to go into a casino, rob it, and get out. But some things go wrong, and double crosses are abound. This may well be Kevin Costner's best performance ever as the maniacal, but hilarious, Murphy. A no holds barred dark action comedy that only those with a twisted sense of humor can truly appreciate, "3000 Miles to Graceland" is an underrated movie no one should miss.
Rating: Summary: Glad I read the critic's review AFTER seeing the movie!!!! Review: My husband and I just watched "3000 miles to Graceland". I turned to my husband and said "What a great movie". He said to me "The critic thought it [was bad]". I was shocked; "That can't be", I said. He pulled up the review, and I read in disbelief. I don't know what movie he watched but it couldn't have been this one. I have watched many movies with higher ratings than this that I didn't enjoy nearly as much. The movie was what it was. I don't think they were trying to make a moral statement, or win an Oscar for Drama. It was fun, active, unpredictable, and outlandish. In short, ENTERTAINING. What most movies have gotten away from. I watch movies for a little fantasy. If I wanted true-to-life I'd watch the news. I agree with most of the other movie-watchers and give this movie "two thumbs up". I would recommend this movie to friends. It was a breath of fresh air watching Kevin Costner get dirty. Again, I'm glad I saw the movie and then read the review.
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