Review of 3000 Miles to Graceland (2001) by Danielle S — 06 Jun 2008

Five ex-cons have decided to ransack a casino dressed as "The King." The gang consists of their mean-spirited leader Thomas J. Murphy (Costner), the goofy Gus (Arquette), the tense Hanson (Slater), and the brutish Franklin (Bokeem Woodbine).

They meet up with Michael Zane (Kurt Russell), an ex-con who is a bit more level headed than his pals. The five men hit the casino with all they've got and make their getaway in a helicopter piloted by Howie Long.

While counting their cash at a local motel, things start to unravel. Tempers flare, words are spouted, and guns are pulled. Through a series of unlikely events, people are killed, backs are stabbed, and the money is taken on the run.

Even Zane's new "girlfriend" (Cox) and her eight-year-old son get in on the action. It's soon obvious that Costner is the bad guy and Russell the good guy, and it's a cat and mouse game to retrieve the stolen loot all across the desert plains.

Costner's usual limitations -- his dead-tone surfer's voice, his inability to use his body expressively -- are still on evident display, but he's a lot looser and focused than usual. Almost everything he does here is unexpected; he's learned to trust his instincts, to take chances and quit worrying what the general public might think of each and every one of his on-screen moves.

The way Michael's been written, and the way the never-better Russell plays him, he's too smart for his own good, and it's in his willingness to introspect and admit his weaknesses that eventually make him an irresistible character.

The love that develops between him and a sexy single mom (played by Courteney Cox) comes off as completely believable, because the writing throws their relationship arc a few curves, and both actors not only match up well together but actually listen to one another -- you can believe there's something genuine going on between them by their reactions and the words being held back.

3000 Miles to Graceland isn't any kind of classic, but looked upon in retrospect, it's much more telling about our current society's skewered moral sense than its naysayers will likely ever give it credit for.