All that's missing from this latest Jerry Bruckheimer production is...Jerry Bruckheimer. Actually, this isn't a Bruckheimer film but you'd never be able to tell after watching it. It has many of the same qualities of the action meister movies. Gratuitous violence, big explosions, MTV style editing, car chases and the usual plethora of flying bullets. What this film is lacking is the energy and spirit of a Bruckheimer flick.

In this new action movie, Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner play a couple of Elvis impersonators who, with the help of their fellow cohorts, rip off a Las Vegas casino during a big Elvis convention. Following the a big bloodbath, the story develops into a series of double crosses and hidden agendas.

3000 Miles to Graceland is extremely silly to say the least. At moments, it's as if the film makers actually expect the audience to take things seriously, but it's virtually impossible to do so. Russell (who once played Elvis in a John Carpenter bio pic) is the rugged anti hero while Costner goes for the gold in his first role as a bad guy. Sure, he played a criminal in Clint Eastwood's A Perfect World, but in that film, he played a convict with a good heart. Here, he's just plain nasty. It's as if he just wanted to strip away that all-American image and just be as bad as he could, much like Harrison Ford in last year's disastrous What Lies Beneath (I hope I didn't give anything away). Surprisingly, it's the sweet natured Courtney Cox that I really liked best about this film. She's given an opportunity to do comedy and drama and she makes the most of it.

Of course this is a film is all about action and although there is plenty of it, the film never manages to maintain any sort of consistent energy. I think it's because we've seen all this stuff before. There were also some good opportunities here to make the most of the Elvis gag, but aside from one interesting revelation, the film-makers never go anywhere with it. I'd also like to mention the ridiculously underdeveloped relationship between Russell and Cox's son. It never gels and really slows the movie down.

3000 Miles to Graceland deserves some credit for not following any rules. This is one of the most obnoxiously violent films to come out of Hollywood in sometime. In the first forty minutes or so, at least thirty people get blown away. This flick has no interest in being kind. In that respect, it's kind of a throwback to the glory days of Commando.

In the end, I can't say I necessarily recommend this picture but then it sure beats the hell out of the current crop of lousy cinema. I'll take 3000 Miles to Graceland over Head of Heels, Saving Silverman, The Wedding Planner, and Down to Earth any day of the week and twice on Sunday.