3,000 Miles to Graceland
The path to redemption is long and hard.
By Chris Welch

: : : Our Rating : : :

The path to redemption is long and hard. Apparently one of the necessary stops along this road is a movie about a bunch of Elvis impersonators robbing a casino, and the often violent, and sometimes comedical repercussions of said heist. I guess a struggling actor has to do, what a struggling actor has to do.

The movie in question is of course 3,000 Miles to Graceland a testosterone drenched, wannabe hipster, heist film, that succeeds in being entertaining at times, but not much else. Well almost nothing else. Now to enjoy this movie at all you first have to think about it in context. Maybe it�s just me, but when I find out about a movie that revolves around the supposed Elvis impersonators robbing a casino, I don�t think best picture gold. Instead I expected a fairly light hearted, kind of kooky popcorn flick. Well I wish I could say otherwise, but that�s exactly what it is.

There really is no deep message, or set of values that this movie is trying to bring across. In fact the only attempt at such a thing is a subplot involving a romance between Kurt Russell, and Courtney Cox, but this is also one of the shortcomings of the film.

This rather serious, almost sappy bit of sentimentality thrown into the midst of this very guy oriented film just doesn�t fit. The movie has large amounts of violence, T&A, and male oriented humor, and this contrived out of place little love story takes away from what this movie is really about . . . guys being cool. Imagine if amidst all the ear chopping, foul mouthed, juevos enlarging posturing of Reservoir Dogs Tarantino had decided to have Mr. Blonde, and Mr. White try to work through the complications of their burgeoning romance. Somehow I don�t think the movie would have quite the same effect.

Now don�t think for a moment I�m equating this movie to the classics of Tarantino, or more recently the films of Guy Ritchie. Not that the movie doesn�t try to be just that. A lot of the directing style very closely resembles the hyperkinetic style of much superior director Ritchie. No, instead this movie is instead a two-hour escapist mentality film. You just kind of watch with mild amusement at what is going on, never really getting all that invested in the story, but not unhappy that you�re watching it.

However this movie does have one bright shining point by which I can recommend that it be seen, at least when it comes out for rental, and that is . . . I can�t believe I�m saying this . . . Kevin Costner! You heard me right, the master of long, drawn out, three hour long opuses to his own ego Costner is actually the best part of the movie. When I heard that both Costner, and Kurt Russell were going to be in a movie together I couldn�t help but think that Russell would completely out shine his on screen partner. I mean look at the two actors takes on Wyatt Earp. Costner�s obviously titled Wyatt Earp was a boring over acted bore that was shunned by critics and movie goers alike. While Russell�s Tombstone blew everyone away, and in my opinion stands as one of the best westerns ever made. I figured such would be the case with this film. I suspected that Costner would walk through the film numbing the audience with boredom, only to be broken up by the life that Russell would inject back in them. In fact in the case film it�s quite the opposite.

Mind you Russell�s performance isn�t bad, but it just doesn�t have the texture or substance that Costner�s does, and that�s one of the films other failing points. The film spends too much time focusing on Russell�s character when everyone in the audience wants to get back to watching the bizarre, sadistic, and just down right fun antics of Costner�s character. As I mentioned before the path to redemption is long and hard, but it is my opinion that Costner may be traveling this road in just the right way. After a surprisingly good turn in the absolutely spectacular 13 Days, and now his blisteringly cool role in 3,000 Miles to Graceland, Costner may be on the rise again. Perhaps he is finally realizing what many of us could have told him long ago, he�s not the greatest actor in the world, he just has to play it cool. Look at his best known roles in films like The Untouchables, Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, and Silverado which is in my opinion probably his best role. Costner is always at his peak when he�s playing slightly off beat, but undeniably cool character, not sappy, over emoting, crybabies.

Is the movie great? No, not by any stretch of the imagination. Does it have its moments? Most definitely, but most important the film could mark the slow resurgence of an actor who when he used to be on his game was pretty darn cool. Will he ever return to his superstar days before he sunk himself with crap-feasts like Waterworld, and The Postman? Only time will tell, but as word of advice. Kevin, learn from the mistakes of some of your fellow actors in their comeback attempts. No matter how good an idea it may seem at the time, don�t make a movie starring yourself as a nine-foot alien with dread locks, in a film that is nothing more than an excuse to spout your bizarre religious beliefs. Ask John Travolta. He�ll know what you�re talking about. Although he is talking about making a sequel, so on second thought, maybe not.