Not sure how to begin to tackle the mishmash of genres and movie styles that Guns, Girls and Gambling offers. The movie has a mix of Tarantino style humor mixed with violence, with double crosses like in The Sting. Throw in a group of Elvis impersonators, a stolen Hopi Indian Mask, Christian Slater, greedy sheriffs, a Swedish blonde assassin, a seemingly innocent girl next door, and blend together. In 90 minutes, ultimately what comes out, is an odd, eclectic, sardonic mix of Poe and Elvis inspired dialogue, interspersed with violence that is, Guns, Girls, and Gambling.
Guns, Girls and Gambling has one of those, watch the events unfold, then go back and witness what really happened timelines. GX3 as I will refer to it from this point forth opens with an older Elvis impersonator, portrayed by Gary Oldman, waiting for a bus in the middle of nowhere. The bus stops, and while the driver is out taking a link "The blond" assassin clad in black with two guns strapped to her back comes on the bus and shoots him, but the audience is not told why. The opening credits roll then Christian Slater, who does the narrative and plays one of the Elvis impersonators, appears. He is in the process of getting beaten, when the scene shifts to the past, to tell the whole story.
An ancient tribal mask is stolen from the chief's office at the local Indian Casino. The chief of course wants his mask back, and the rest of the film is a frantic search for all the Elvis impersonators, who were given a private suite next to the office. Christian Slater's John Smith character was the only one left in the casino the next day, they accuse him first.
Quite a tall tale, and a somewhat confusing story, on who does what, but as stated before GX3 delivers a decent mix of humor and action. There is a crazy cowboy, played by Jeff Fahey, who adds a western feel. Watch for just about every stereo type being mentioned and lampooned throughout the film.
Although Slater and Oldman do a good job with their characters, I particularly liked Helena Mattsson's work as "The Blonde". She plays her divisive assassin character to perfection, clad in black, complete with stiletto heels. Helena not only looks the part she sounds forceful, along with her devious smile.
One of the main problems I had with the GX3 was the retelling of the plot too many times, almost to pad the film, facilitating a full 90 minute run-time. Another issue is just too many main characters. I mean, 5 Elvis impersonators, 2 corrupt sheriffs, a chief, a cowboy, a girl next door, a "college kid", and a blonde assassin all vying for screen time makes it tough to develop the characters let alone, bother to care about all of them.
Not a bad effort from writer/director Michael Winnnick. Despite of the flaws, GX3 is an entertaining 90 minutes, and the ending, which I will not spoil, has a few interesting twists, that finally tie some of the loose ends together.
Overall I give Guns, Girls and Gambling a 6.5 out of 10 definitely worth a rent.
