3000 Miles to Graceland (2001)

Directed by: Demian Lichtenstein
Starring: Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner & Courteney Cox

Tagline: Crime Is King<

Elvis enthusiasts Michael (Russell) and "Murphy" (Costner) head to Vegas with fellow impersonators intent on robbing a casino holding a convention in honour of "The King". Amidst the heist, things get all shook up – Lichtenstein throws in an extravagant gun fight and one of the Elvii (plural of Elvis) gets killed. Costner's "Murphy" then betrays the rest of his posse, killing two more Elvii which the audience is supposed to believe is three – the third being Russell's character Michael who realistically isn't going to perish around the half-hour mark. Michael then returns to collect the money but ends up with some added baggage – as does the film; Cox's character, the feisty, loose Cybil and her infuriating son Jesse are pushed into more prominent roles, likely to the displeasure of the audience. What ensues is an ever-changing cat-and-mouse scenario at which point it seems even Lichtenstein isn't sure who's chasing who.

One of Graceland‘s many drawback is its running time; at 125 minutes it’s simply too long and leaves the viewer feeling as if every inch of the 3000 miles is being covered and is a problem which could easily have been remedied with the exclusion of several of the film’s pointless scenes. Another reason Graceland falls short is the fact that, for a film centered around the exploits of two Elvis enthusiasts – both believe they’re descendants of The King himself! – the soundtrack only features three of his songs; the rest of the film is haunted by a terrible rap and nu-metal score which feels sorely out of place. Also, the exclusion David Kaye and his character Jesse would have made the film more bearable – his scenes are intolerable and his role as a lovable brat is as incongruous as the term itself. Finally, and perhaps the film’s biggest mishap, is Lichtenstein’s decision to limit Russell’s screen-time as Elvis; this is, after all, an actor who was nominated for an Emmy award for his portrayal of Elvis in John Carpenter’s TV-movie of the same name along with lending his uncanny voice-impersonation of The King to the Academy award-winning Forrest Gump. Yet, for some reason, Russell spends only about 10 minutes in the iconic garbs of Elvis and delivers only a handful of lines while in-character.

Redeeming values? Russell’s performance on a whole is a light in the darkness but even he cannot support the rest of the film and its cast, especially Costner who fails to pull his weight in an uncharacteristic role as the antagonist. At the end of the day, the premise for the film is a good one, the cast is healthy, Lichtenstein just clearly isn’t the man to get the most out of either.

VERDICT: 3 out of 10