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Released by: Universal Studios
Released on: 1/8/2013
Director: Michael Winnick
Cast: Christian Slater, Megan Park, Gary Oldman , Powers Boothe, Helena Mattsson, Jeff Fahey, Chris Kattan, Sam Trammell, Dane Cook
Year: 2011
Purchase from Amazon
The Movie:
You know those movies that jump all over the place and tell a story is a less-than-linear fashion? Starting at nearly the end of the movie and then moving to weeks before and then jumping ahead, then back again until it all comes full circle back to where the story started? And you know those movies with some snappy narration that over explain everything as if the viewer is totally incapable of independent thought, not able to piece anything together for themselves? And you know those movies that pause in mid-motion and introduce characters by printing the character's name on the screen when introducing said character? Guns, Girls and Gambling is one of those movies. If you iron out the movie into a more chronological manner, it goes something like this.
A random stranger roams onto a Native American reservation and tries his luck at the casino. John Smith (Christian Slater) can't win any money at the slots, so he tries his luck at an Elvis Impersonator contest taking place that very evening in the casino. After the contest is over he joins the other Elvis clones in a session of five-card draw. Joining him are the winning Elvis (Gary Oldman), Gay Elvis (Chris Kattan), Little Person Elvis (Tony Cox), and Asian Elvis (Anthony Wong). After the game and the evening, it is revealed that an ancient mask was stolen from the casino, and John Smith is blamed for it.
Smith knows nothing of the mask, but that doesn't keep away the plethora of assassins looking to kill him and the other impersonators in order to find the mask. There's a million-dollar reward for the mask's return, a reward sought out by the likes of a few cold-blooded killers. The Blonde (Helena Mattsson), a Barb Wire-looking, gun-toting hottie; The Indian (Matthew Willig), a tomahawk armed tough guy; the revolver-packing Cowboy (Jeff Fahey); and the Two Sheriffs, played by Sam Trammell and Dane Cook. But Smith isn't totally alone. He has some help from The Girl Next Door (Megan Park) a smart-ass perky teen who for some reason feels compelled to stay with Smith even though she herself is in a lot of danger just being with him.
And so for the duration of the story, assassins pursue Elvises, people get killed, and unfunny humor saturates nearly every scene. Yeah it's not funny and it's supposed to be. Most of the jokes are running gags, playing on stereotypes and accusations of discrimination. There's also a running thing with the fact that the man the Indians and the white men are pursuing is named John Smith, who if you don't know (and they make great pains to make sure we all do), was not well liked by either race. And The Girl Next Door is the Pocahontas character, to further work the unfunny angle.
A lot of solid performers are in this one, including some genre favorites such as Powers Booth as The Rancher, a man also after the mask. Gary Oldman is his usual interesting self, and keep your eyes peeled for hockey great Wayne Gretsky's daughter as the sheriff's deputy, for whatever that's worth. But the movie is Christian Slater's movie all the way, and he's just what you expect. Does his job, but doesn't impress. In fact no one really impresses in this one. There's not a single standout to mention. Most of the performances are good, mind you, just nothing memorable.
The movie seems to voluntarily puts itself into the category of trying to be a “grindhouse†style movie, which for the last 20 years seems to be little more than a “Tarantino†style movie. Slick dialogue, ultra violence, lots of characters, and every one of them with some sort of quirky or in-your-face style. There's nothing here to make it stand out of the crowd, and the twists the story takes are pretty lame. This one is all flash and no meat.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Blu-ray image looks excellent, with impressive colors, amazing detail (trim those eyebrows, Fahey), and with clarity to write home about. Everything about the picture is pleasing, including the deep black levels. Landscapes look fantastic, as do scenes with low lighting. No authoring issues were observed. The audio is a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track and as with the visual presentation, the sound presentation is great. Although there doesn't seem to be a lot of noticeable back channel activity other than gunfire and maybe some music, it still comes through as an overall dynamic track. The music can get a bit loud, but that's expected from an action flick. No issues to report here either.
Extras…nada. Just some trailers for other Universal titles before the feature plays.
The Final Word:
If you're looking for mindless, non-engaging story telling that looks fancy, this may fill the bill, but that's about the only thing this movie accomplishes.
