3000 Miles to Graceland (2001): Dir: Demien Lichtenstein / Cast: Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell, Courteney Cox, Christian Slater, Kevin Pollack: 3000 miles of violence and mayhem with as much stupidity as possible. Title is suppose to represent freedom and introduces Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell as Elvis impersonators who lead a group in robbing a casino. We are given a massive shootout before they escape to their hideout where Costner murders all his cronies save for Russell who escapes. He hooks up with a confused mother and her thief son. She steals the money and abandons her son with him. Director Demian Lichtenstein just rolls the camera and let's them fight without any care as long as viewers are entertained by its pointless mayhem. The two leads prevail despite idiotic dialogue. Russell goes from villain to responsible player when the woman's son is involved. Costner goes from villain to killing his whole team. This cannot end without violence and that is exactly where it resolves. Courteney Cox as the mother is standard issue whose best scene seems to have her bound and gagged in a trunk. She is not sympathetic nor likable here. Christian Slater appears briefly as doomed Elvis impersonator. Kevin Pollack is cast as the U.S marshal but the role is pretty standard and flat. Pointless violent encore is louder than most construction sites. Score: 4 / 10

To enjoy this movie, you need to know what kind of movie to expect going in. Don't expect it to be about Elvis per se, although he does play a large role in the background. So if you came to this movie because you are an Elvis fan you may or may not be disappointed. Also don't expect it to be a polished critical classic like Gone with the Wind. Do expect it to be campy, over-the-top, and fun. Too many people go into the film expecting it to be something it isn't, and that ruins the experience for them.This film is what is known as a cult classic. It did not do well on its initial release, but people have come to appreciate it over time. It is a film to watch when you want to unwind and see some pure entertainment.It has all the elements of a classic late-night guys' popcorn flick. It has lots of guns, action, hot women, hot cars, and the classic showdown between good and evil. It also has a lot of laughs with a bit of quirky randomness. The plot holes are numerous, and the dialogue is sometimes stilted, but for some reason you just don't care, because the film is fun.Kevin Costner gives one of his best performances here (although everything Costner does is pure gold). You will love every scene he is in. Everyone did a great job, but Costner made the movie.One bit of a warning: the opening sequence is really odd, and only becomes clear after you have watched the whole movie, so try to keep an open mind.

Just finished watching this movie and after 10 years it has only gotten harder to view. There are some nice actors that have since gone on to bigger things, and some old actors that we haven't heard much from lately, so I thought it was worth a repeat view.I was a bit off the mark. There are some decent scenes, and it was nice to see familiar faces portraying somewhat interesting characters, but the premise of the film is so lacking credibility that I felt irritated throughout.First of all, if you are going to rob a casino full of Elvis impersonators while being dressed like Elvis why don't you use this to help escape or blend in?? Then, how do you spray every camera except the one that shows you taking the money? Why would you then have to go through the entire casino floor to get to the roof? This would perhaps be the most ridiculous- but it is topped by the struggle which makes up the entire rest of the movie- the money is taken from HARD COUNT.Now anyone who knows anything about casinos knows that they take in a lot of cash money. This money has to be counted (these are the people in the room where the gang-o-thieves grab the cash). This is not money from the bank but money going to the bank and therefore this money is in no way marked and there is absolutely NO REASON for it to be marked. So going to find someone to launder this cash is completely idiotic. Therefore the rest of this movie is idiotic and makes no sense whatsoever. Really people, I know this isn't supposed to be real life but base a movie on some sort of reality. Or else call it science fiction or fantasy or something. This was so far fetched that I couldn't objectively watch the rest. Too bad? Or maybe just as well.

Fresh out of prison a man meets up with his old gang and they dress as Elvis impersonators and go to Vegas and rob a casino. The head of the gang kills his members, but one gets away and takes the money along with his new girl and her kid. Of course the leader of the gang comes looking for his money and the adventure they partake in is a wild one. Love, money, and bullets flow in this action drama.It wasn't bad at all. This made about my 3rd or 4th time seeing it and I am always entertained while I watch it. The direction was pretty good and it's nice because we see so many changes in style through out the movie. It starts off with the credits in a c.g.i. fight between two scorpions and then the movie starts with some beautiful desert shots and a very isolated and relaxed mood. It is followed by Vegas and the bright lights and heavy paced action and several other relevant sets and locations lead up to the films finale shoot out in an abandon loading facility.The movies music is mixed, the score is okay, but the soundtrack is filled with everything from Kid Rock and Uncle Cracker to loads of crappy Elvis music.Like everything else the acting is mixed too. Of course, we have legends that were great like Kurt Russell, Kevin Pollak, Jon Lovitz and David Arquette and some mediocre actors like Courtney Cox and Kevin Costner in one of his better acting attempts. Ice-t doing his best to be a tough guy on the screen, but I find that he acts that way in real life and although a bit over the top here he still pulls it off as a bad*ss. We have some actors here who I wish had been replaced like the very dull Christian Slater, athletes that should not act like Howie Long and the bottom of the barrel of acting like that of Thomas Haden Church and Bookeem Woodbine. Last but not least I wanna praise the kid that played Jesse, David Kaye, he did a great job and I would love to know why he isn't more famous.This movie is fast paced and has a lot of action, some comedy and some lovey dovey going on. It was all and all a very nice effort and a good way to kill a couple of hours...4/10 stars