I grew up in a household, that now in hindsight, I like to refer to as "Graceland North". My mother was an Elvis nut, so I spent the majority of my childhood listening to her vinyls of Sun Records' favorite son. When our home became equipped with the wonders of VHS technology, some of the first cassettes that Mama purchased were, you guessed it....Presley flicks. Everything from "Love Me Tender" to "Charro" (my personal favorite has always been "Jailhouse Rock"...yeah, I was one of those people who voted for the "young Elvis" stamp) . so, after years of constant saturation I must admit that, yes, I am a card carrying member of the Memphis Mafia (Local #372, Southern Ohio branch). Which is one of the reasons why I went to see 3000 MILES TO GRACELAND during it's brief theatrical release.
The Plot: Russell portrays Mike, an ex-con and obvious Elvis fanatic, who meets up with Murphy (Costner), a professional thief who we realize right away is crazier than a loon, mostly because he possesses bigger sideburns than everybody else and is just generally creepy.
Mike and the gang head for the International Elvis Week event in glorious Las Vegas, with intentions on robbing a casino. The job goes bad (naturally) and Costner goes nuts.....
Which, in my opinion, is the best part of the film. The role of the bad guy is definately a refreshing change of pace for Costner, an actor who I am of a neutral opinion of. I neither dislike his work, nor do I absolutely love it. I dig FIELD OF DREAMS and FOR LOVE OF THE GAME (mostly for Sam Raimi's work on it), but it seems that he has regulated himself to sappy dramas too much in his career. Seeing the man lose it, as he did in this flick, and portraying a sadistic nutcase like Murphy brings a sick, twisted smile to my face. (Interesting side-note: My favorite Costner flick? A PERFECT WORLD, the Clint Eastwood-directed opus....it may just be me, but ol' Kev definately has a knack for playing likeable fruitcakes with criminal tendencies)
