3. 3000 Miles to Graceland
Here's a good one and I've been waiting to write about it forever. 3000 Miles to Graceland was a flop when it hit theaters and has been mostly forgotten. It's actually not a bad film with a great performance by Kevin Costner. 3000 Miles to Graceland is about a Vegas heist gone wrong when one member of the crew (Costner) decides to take the loot for himself. It's a fun and bloody affair but if one doesn't watch closely, you may miss the obvious political commentary on the Vietnam War and the treatment of vets. Kevin Costner plays Murphy who is a sadistic killer that may be the illegitimate son of Elvis. Very early on we learn that Murphy was a Vietnam vet. He was a medic that returned to society hoping to claim his rightful place as Elvis' son, but was denied that right and most others by a society disgusted with an unjust war and those forced to take part. He is driven to crime where he forever remains. There's an early scene where our robbers are choppered out of their Casino heist and one of them has taken a bullet. Murphy tried desperately to revive him and when he fails we get a slow motion shot of Costner covered in blood clearly forced back to his memories of the war. Many saw this as a plot hole. If Murphy was going to kill everyone anyway, why tr to save this guy? Because he is an unstable vet with untreated PTSD doing what he was trained to do. In the end, brother is pitted against brother which is an obvious metaphor for America during the Vietnam War. Michael (Kurt Russell) is also revealed to be another unrecognized son of Elvis' and him and Murphy are put head to head in the end. For Murphy, though, it isn't about the money. He's a fatherless, country- less lost soul looking to go out with a bang. We understand he's not all bad when he tosses a child all he has left of the loot in the final shootout and tells him that he'll "cover him." In the end, 3000 Miles to Graceland is about a Vietnam veteran returned to society as a man not respected, loved or cared for as veterans should be. What ensued because of this was a two hour bloody hell where Murphy plays God for awhile.