It’s a good thing Warner Brother’s latest film “3000 Miles to Graceland” makes its location clear from the start. If it didn’t, one might think this film was just a testosterone-charged bomb that lies 3,000 miles away from anything resembling a viable plot or decent script.
Mileage aside, the story is based on a group of ex-cons, including Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell and David Arquette, who choose to rob a Las Vegas casino during International Elvis Presley week. What happens next is two hours of deceit and disaster that stretches from Nevada to Twin Falls, Idaho to Seattle.
While the film is nothing more than typical action fare, Director Demian Lichtenstein attempts to up the originality quotient with “Matrix”-style slow-motion shots and distorted camera angles. This only serves to further confuse a film that was jumbled to begin with. There are only so many ways to successfully show a bullet sailing through the air.
Those opposed to gratuitous violence in cinema should take note when looking to provide an example of the quintessential film to highlight this gripe. While the film drags on for more than two hours, about 50 people are killed (and it’s not pretty) within the first 20 minutes alone. In addition, these unnecessary murders are further accented by repeated cuts to scantily clad showgirls performing a dance number set to a heavy metal musical overture.
Speaking of music, it is important to note its importance throughout the film in covering up the lack of dialogue. While this normally would be seen as a bad thing, this is not the case here. When the characters do open their mouths, you wish their gruff, skelentonized conversions were drowned out by a decent Godsmack song.
Costner and Russell have reached new lows in their choice of big-budget action flicks that make blatant stabs at being artistic. While the film attempts to emphasize their complicated relationship, their chemistry is so off that they appear to have never met each other even in the closing scene. Arquette is mildly entertaining in his typical goofy portrayal of one of the ex-cons who unfortunately bites it (like everyone else) within the first 40 minutes. Courteney Cox earns the distinction of the only female in the film to say more than three words. Unfortunately, she should have remained silent as well.
The plot is unrealistically contrived in many ways, most notably in that women continually witness these supposedly scary criminals creating a murder spree that stretches across three states and their first reaction is to jump into the car and join them.
In their defense, the actors probably did all they could with what was presented to them. The problem lies in that no one will want to spend money to see a movie that features enough guns to fill up an arsenal the size of a rather large building and not much else.
