What is 3,000 Miles to Graceland about? Well, you ask me. It has a couple of furious action scenes, where a bunch of Elvis impersonators shoot up about twenty thousand cops after they rob a casino. It has a twisted romance going on, as one of those impersonators finds himself attracted to a beautiful single mother, who wants the money for herself. It has a dark comical theme going to it as well, as you can tell just by looking at Kevin Costner's hairstyle. It has just about everything going on, which makes 3,000 Miles to Graceland one of the hardest movies to grade that I've ever encountered.

I spent a lot of the movie trying to decide whether 3,000 Miles to Graceland is a decent movie or a horrible movie. It so cluttered and at times random that I liked a lot of the scenes in the film, but as a whole it just didn't come together. I liked the action scenes, even if they do have some flaws, and I liked the comedy, but when it goes from one to another it really seems like two different movies.

The film starts off about as weird as they come, with two computerized scorpions dueling it out. This starting is supposed to be symbolic of the story to come, but I really don't understand why the hell something like this is in the film.

It goes on from there and we are introduced to Kurt Russell, who's character is the protagonist of the film, even if he is a thief. He quickly falls into heavy sex with Courtney Cox, and eventually we meet the rest of the gang, including Kevin Costner, Christian Slater, David Arquette, and Bokeem Woodbine.

Of course, the movie has to treat itself as a dark comedy when it has the likes of Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner looking like Elvis. Furthermore, Costner is one bad ass, willing to kill just about anyone that gets in his way. Throughout the film we get some good one-liners and some funny situations, but 3,000 Miles to Graceland is more predominantly based on...

Action. The movie really doesn't have that much action, unfortunately, but it has enough (besides, the action scenes are the most memorable). When the Elvises rob the casino, a huge gunfight ensues, where a lot of cops and security guards get shot. At the end of the movie, another gunfight ensues, where Kevin Costner and Ice T take on about a thousand of the worst FBI Agents ever (they can't shoot a damn thing). The problem with these action scenes, and for the entire movie for that matter, is that we are supposed to root for the bad guys, even if he we don't like them. And looking back on the ending, I think that we are supposed to like Kevin Costner's character as well.

While I watched the movie I was trapped in a sense of clutter, where the movie races around from one moment to the next without giving me time to determine whether I am liking what I am seeing or not. However, as the film drags on, something bad happens: I begin to think, 'Just how much longer is this film going to go?' The movie is a little long, and before the final action scene the film really clanks around quite a bit, as Russell tries to work out his relationship with Cox. Supposedly, Kurt Russell made his own cut of the film where the emphasis was on his relationship with Cox; good thing that one didn't make it to the big screen, because the relationship is the weakest storyline of the film.

As far as acting goes, I think everyone does a pretty good job. Costner is always pretty fun to watch as a pretty bad ass character, as Russell can range from hideously bad guys to good guys, and he's somewhere in between on this one. Courtney Cox shows that she can do something other than television sitcoms.

3,000 Miles to Graceland is a pretty strange movie, mainly just because it is so many things at one. It by no means is that good of a movie, but it does have some entertainment value that makes it worth watching.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.