Demian Lichtenstein directs Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner and Courtney Cox in this action film about careers criminals who are really into Elvis.

Here’s a pitch: Elvis impersonators rob a Las Vegas casino. Here’s a great cast. Here’s $62 million dollars. How do you fuck that up? Watch this poor, poor movie and find out. I’m not entirely sure why Tarantino shoulders the blame for every wannabe script that was put in production off the back of Pulp Fiction. It is not his fault that no one in Hollywood could seemingly tell the difference between the premium quality of his own genre writing and derivative, rambling, misogynistic (every female character is introduced with a shot of her butt), wordy guff like this. But I’m guessing when this flopped quite so hard he thanked Lichtenstein for literally directing the life out of the weak ass rip off to its even further detriment. No one has bothered “homaging” the pop culture bandit himself again to my knowledge, leaving QT to be his own brand. Every trick in the book is pulled out by 3KM2G’s floundering director from CGI fighting scorpions in the credits, a time lapse montage of Vegas that lasts longer than Christian Slater’s screentime and Ice T turning up in the final five minutes literally to just hang upside down with some Uzis. All evidence that Lichtenstein seemingly wants to be making any film but the one we have bought a DVD of. There’s just enough aimless action to make for an impressive trailer and if you check your brain in at the door there’s some disjointed fun to be had. Not enough to justify the running time nor the suspension of disbelief needed when the nominal good guys and a struggling against form Costner baddie cross paths for seemingly the umpteenth time. Biggest sin of all, given the central concept of the whole fucking movie, there is so little of The King on the soundtrack… A mire of dud noughties music hurts the ears instead. Which really is criminal.

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