Guns, Girls and Gambling (2012)

Why am I rating this movie so highly when if you paid to see it at a movie theater you might be lukewarm about it? Because it's a perfect late night snack. It's spunky, clever, witty, and odd with decent production values. Quite a few people meet untimely ends in this movie, but it isn't really gory, and maintains a light mood throughout. You have to watch it to the bitter end for all of the twists. Some reviewers have complained about "The Blond", but whatever she lacked in acting ability, her other rather obvious "assets" more than compensated (I'm sure you get my drift). In any event, I personally thought she fit the role she was supposed to play really well--she might not be cut out for "Sophie's Choice", but, on the other hand, Meryl Streep would have been a big mistake here likewise. Really, this is just fun, happy-go-lucky, late-night entertainment, so just make some popcorn, grab a coke, lighten up, and enjoy the ride. I did.

After the utter failure of Shadow Puppets, I would have thought this director would have been laughed out of Hollywood. However, someone decided he needed a second chance and gave this hack millions? to make another flop. I finally saw this film, just curious to see how bad a film could be. I tried to be open minded, but I spent the entire movie laughing at how bad this movie is. From the clichéd freeze frames showing different characters to the abysmally bad writing to the completely clueless directing, Winnick doesn't disappoint in showing just why Hollywood sucks so bad. This movie goes from violent to racist with a flip of the wrist, and then throws out some bad action film clichés that I guess are supposed to be funny. The actual camera-work is OK, so I guess the DPs were alright. Otherwise, even the camera angles are clichés. If you like horrible films that make you laugh because they are so utterly bad, then give this a try.

Writer & director Michael Winnick's "Guns, Girls, and Gambling" is truly a guilty pleasure. This lightweight, breezy, shoot'em up, road trip epic about a group of Elvis impersonators and the search for an ancient Hopi Indian mask is a lot of fun. A diverse cast, funny performances, interesting characters, scenic settings, amusing dialogue, a little nudity, and good cinematography make this opus worth watching. Basically, "Guns, Girls, and Gambling" is a derivative but entertaining beer and pizza picture that never wears out its welcome. The Elvis impersonators reminded me of the Kurt Russell & Kevin Costner shoot'em up "10,000 Miles to Graceland" and the quirky humor sounded like something out of a Cohen brothers movie. I imagine that in screenplay form that this would have a real page turner. Calling "Guns, Girls, and Gambling" a Tarantino movie because of a trunk shot and Christian Slater's presence is pretty facile. Altogether, I genuinely enjoyed this high body count contemporary western. The blonde chick in the black body suit with two automatic pistols was incredibly sexy.

I have to admit that when I sat down to watch "Guns, Girls, and Gambling", I wasn't expecting that much. I thought the title sounded lame (and I still feel that way.) And there was the fact that Christian Slater was in the movie, an actor who has churned out one lame direct-to-DVD movie after another for some years now. But to my surprise, I really enjoyed this movie. The script is very clever, slowly unpeeling one layer at a time, and careful enough to leave some surprises right at the very end. The screenplay is also very funny at times - there were a number of moments when I laughed out loud, something I seldom do when watching a movie. The movie is also very well made on a low budget - I watched the movie on Blu- ray, and it looked very slick and colorful. And Christian Slater is actually pretty good in the movie's central role. But most of the credit for the movie's success is due to writer/director Michael Winnick. I look forward to his next movie.