Guns, Girls and Gambling (2012) Reviews

• Has to be seen to be believed

  NateWatchesCoolMovies2016-03-24

  Guns, Girls And Gambling is an absolute doozy of a film. The term 'so bad it's good' was invented for slapdash mockeries such as this, and with every stylistic cliché and ridiculous tactic, it owns the moniker vigorously. The filmmakers are obvious disciples of the neo noir crime thriller, as we see countless hard boiled walking stereotypes prance across the screen. Whenever a character shows up, a garish font announces them in writing below, which is crime genre 101. This happens so many goddamn times though, that eventually I felt like I was watching Mel Brooks's attempt at a heist flick. It's silly beyond words, derivative enough to give you the onset of dementia and admirably dumb. But... I still had fun, at least in parts of it. It concerns the theft of a priceless Native American artifact from a tribal casino. The perpetrators? A gang of Elvis impersonators with, let's say, interesting characteristics. There's gay Elvis (Chris Kattan), midget Elvis (Tony Cox), Asian Elvis (Anthony Wong) and Gary Oldman Elvis, played by Gary Oldman who looks like he was dared into taking the role at a frat party. The bumbling Elvises break ranks post heist and the plot thickens, or should I say befuddles, with the arrival of every kooky, sassy assassin and archetype under the sun. Now from what I could make out: Christian Slater plays a dude called John Smith, a 'wrong place at the wrong time' type of guy who is swept up into the intrigue and is in way over head. He's pursued by all kinds of unsavory people, and joined by the girl next door (Heather Roop). There's The Cowboy (a salty Jeff Fahey), a gunslinging hit-man who claims to never miss but literally misses upon firing the first bullet. The Indian (Matthew Willig) is a hulking tomahawk sporting badass. The Chief (Gordon Tootoosis) is the casino owner, muscling in on everyone to get back his artifact. The Sheriff (Dane Cook) is a corrupt lawman out for anything worth a buck. Best of the bunch is a snarling Powers Boothe as The Rancher, a good ol' southern gangster who languishes in a white limo longer than the cast list of this movie, chewing scenery as vigorously as his cigar. There's also a sexy blonde assassin called The Blonde (Helena Mattson) who wanders around quoting Poe right before she blasts people's heads off. Its inane, mind numbing eye candy, with a cast that seems to have been blackmailed into participation. There's even a last minute twist ending that seems to have wandered in from a much more serious film. It's quite literally one of the most stupefyingly odd flicks I've ever seen. It's earnestness in aping countless Pulp Fiction style films before it is beyond amusing, and the only thing that will make you laugh harder is how spectacularly and epically it flounders. It's truly B movie gold, and one that demands a watch simply because it's a sideshow unto itself.

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• I've seen worse

  hanskemperink2012-09-23

  I was wondering why Gary Oldman would appear in this film, which was one of the reasons i picked it up. Christian Slater's stardom has long since faded, Dane Cook has yet to be funny in a movie and who's ever heard of Michael Winnick. A 3.5 on IMDb also didn't bode well. But it was also not really a accurate representation of the quality of this movie. Don't get me wrong, this is still a B-flick in every way, but i've seen far worse. I found it to be mildly entertaining. The movie doesn't take itself very seriously, acting's OK, a couple of jokes here and there. If you have nothing to watch, you can rent this movie. Just don't pay/expect too much.

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• Nice to see Christian Slater in a good role!

  scottyexpress2012-09-22

  The title says it all. This movie is all about the fun, no award buzz here, but I really liked it. Let me confess, I'm a Christian Slater fan, True Romance is one of my favorite movies of all time. That was made what, twenty years ago, and time has been very kind to him, he has aged very well. Still the same hair cut too. Christian plays a guy named John Smith, who is having a bad life. His girl has left him for another guy, and he finds himself in an Indian casino out in the middle of nowhere. He isn't having much luck on the slots, so he decides to enter an Elvis impersonator contest just for kicks and hopefully win a buck or two. He doesn't win, but he does meet a girl. Unfortunately, the girl dumps him right after stealing his wallet. So, Mr Smith gets drunk and enters a poker game with his fellow Elvis impersonators: Gay Elvis, Midget Elvis (Bad Santa), Asian Elvis, and Elvis Elvis (Gary Oldman). He loses the rest of his cash, passes out, and wakes up to find out that he is now the prime suspect in the theft of a valuable Indian death mask stolen from the casino owner. The casino owner isn't happy, and will go to great lengths (murder) to get it back. The rest of the movie involves John and a beautiful young heroine trying to get the mask back for a substantial reward. Lots of funny quips, politically incorrect humor, good looking women, Elvis, and violence. Whats not to like?

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• brilliant. entertaining and fun.

  iansebryk2012-09-22

  now this is the kind of movie that Christian Slater does best. perfect for the role and the film, he does not disappoint. :) all the characters are well rendered, the dialog is perfectly paced and the end result: a completely satisfying film that i'll see a few more times yet. there are so many fun twists it'll keep you guessing if not WHO dunnit, HOW the heck they dunnit. do yourself a favour: watch this film. i honestly couldn't find anything i didn't like about the film. the ladies are lovely, the baddies are the perfect kind of smarmy and it's just plain fun to watch.

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• Slater & Oldman made the right decision to star in GGG

  Thom-Peters2012-09-28

  GGG is a nice little movie that keeps you entertained throughout. Michael Winnick manages to keep the cadence really steady, so if you like the first ten minutes you'll probably like the whole thing. This is actually a great accomplishment as too many movies starting with a similar vibe get goofy and boring after a while. Plot- and character-wise Winnick uses many stereotypes, the ingredients of GGG are very familiar. But the overall result looks fresh and new, so there's nothing wrong with that. The hypocritical prejudices against the use of stereotypes are a main source of GGG's humor. If you can't laugh about people with prejudices complaining about the different prejudices of others, you should skip this movie. The two movies GGG really reminds me of are "Lucky Number Slevin" and "Snatch". Both have a rating of 8. That sounds a bit high for "a nice little movie", but GGG's current rating is 3.7 and that's just embarrassing. So 8 it is.

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