Underrated and misunderstood Sure seems like we have a lot of uptight movie reviewers here.
This is a great flick with a lot of action and a fun story. People need to stop over-analyzing it as some kind of Elvis tribute, etc. It's not. It doesn't try to be. It's simply an action movie with a simple plot. Easy to follow and fun to watch. Lots of action. Lots of violence.
I absolutely loved the soundtrack - seems they picked the right tunes at the right time to set the tone for each scene. For example, "Vapor Trail" by The Crystal Method is used to set the tone for their initial arrival into Vegas and "Smartbomb" by BT on their entrance into the casino. It's perfect music with perfect timing. The music really controls the mood throughout the movie.
So ignore the detractors. Just watch the movie for the fun of it. It's an entertaining flick. No matter how good a movie is, you'll always get reviewers who insist on being contrary just for the sake of being contrary or jumping on a bandwagon just because everyone else is. Most of the negative reviews seem about as eloquent as something written by an 8 year old - that alone should tell you something.
Dysfunctionalism reigns Normally I do not watch anything this violent. Normally I avoid any movie with Kevin Costner in it. The first because I just do not care to see violence. I once got talked into going to the drive-in to see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I spent the whole evening with the sun visor down on the passenger side of the car, trying the best I could to not listen. The second because normally with Kevin Costner it is just Kevin Costner walking through a role. I never seem to accept him as whatever character he is playing.
We were flipping through the channels on cable one night and came across this movie about half way through. I got hooked into watching it. Having not seen the beginning I went back another night to catch that part. I ended up watching the whole movie.
Basic story plot is about a band of Elvis impersonators that rob a casino. They then end up double crossing each other. That was just about a given.
Cybil Waingrow (Courtney Cox) is a very dysfunctional mom with a son, Jesse Waingrow (David Kaye) who is fast on his way to becoming a criminal. One scene has Cybil making gymnastic love to Michael Zane (Kurt Douglas). Jesse sneaks into the bedroom during the lovemaking and steals Michael's wallet.
The master mind of the heist is Murphy played by Kevin Costner. It was a very different role than I am used to seeing Kevin in. Murphy has almost no redeeming qualities. He kills just about everybody he encounters. What got me is that for the most part I forget it was Kevin Costner.
If there is a good guy in the movie it is Michael Zane played by Kurt Russell. Kurt Russell has a tendency to play these characters with about one or two emotional responses, generally a depressive individual with a flat affect. He does so here.
The movie moves fast. It is very violent in the beginning and very violent in the end. While most of the plot twists and turns were predictable they kept me involved.
Quigley is played by Thomas Haden Church of Wings fame. I just never really bought him as the Federal Marshall chasing these crooks.
The soundtrack was really good, and there were more than a few Elvis tunes scattered through out the film. I'm not a huge Elvis fan, but hey he is The King.
There were some pieces at the end that I did not put together the first time I watched the film. Thinking about the movie after the second viewing gave it a little different flavor. Nuff said, do not want to give that away.
I am still trying to put my finger on why I cannot stop thinking about this movie. It was well done. It was entertaining. Maybe it was all the dysfunctional characters. Maybe it was the soundtrack. But for some reason it sticks. I'm not going to watch it again tomorrow, but I could see me doing so a few months from now.
feel-good film i enjoyed the movie for what it was. an action film. surprisingly for an action film the best part of the movie is the chemistry between courtney cox and kurt russell. i watched this film at the movies when it was released for the action which is not as great as the previews made it out to be but i bought the dvd for the sizzle factor of cox's character.Not Oceans 11: Costner doing the Terminator? Kurt Russel and Courtney Cox do a pretty good job of making a bent love story out of a bloody gangster kill them all movie.
The movie leaves you with the question:
Who is the real Elvis illegitimate kid?
The actual big winner here may be this kid actor who plays Courtney Cox's boy who steals everything he lays hands on as he also steals a lot of the scenes.I actually like this movie . . . All right, so lots of people didn't really like this flim for many reasons, mostly because of the excessive violence. But surprisingly, I like this film. I like it because it's never afraid of going too far. Its violence is brutal and over the top, its sexual content is strong and out of control, and its two main characters (Russell and Costner) are what keeps the movie going. Yes, the movie isn't all about Elvis. Yes, it's a bit slow at times. Yes, the gunfights are sometimes unrealistic. But I don't care. I like it for what it is: two hours of pleasing entertainment that doesn't dwell into philosophy or social/political commentary.
