_Three_Kings_ (R) *** 1/2 (out of ****)
At the end of the Gulf War, a group of four--_not_ three--American soldiers (George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze) head out to the Iraqi desert to claim millions in stolen Kuwaiti gold as their own. Much like their seemingly simple journey, there is more to _Three_Kings_ than one expects. Writer-director David O. Russell, heretofore best known for the idiosyncratic indies _Spanking_the_Monkey_ and _Flirting_with_Disaster_, establishes a quirky sense of humor in the film's lighthearted early treasure hunting stages, then midway shifts gears into a thoughtful--but never heavyhanded--examination of the post-war plight of the Iraqi people. The shock comes in not the suddenness of the transition but in how the change is barely noticeable. Russell juggles comedy, drama, traditional war and action-adventure movie elements in _Three_Kings_, and their seamless blending makes for a studio picture uncommon in its unique sensibility and personality.
The latter, of course, owes a great debt to the ensemble. As the ringleader of the gang, Major Archie Gates, Clooney is his typically charismatic self, and it's a testament to his costars' work that his formidable screen presence never dominates. Wahlberg and Cube more than hold their own as Sgt. Troy Barlow and Chief Elgin, respectively (even if the latter is saddled with a fairly limited role), and more secondary players like Nora Dunn (as TV reporter Adriana Cruz) and Jamie Kennedy (as the slightly-off soldier Walter Wogeman) are given their share of moments to call their own. But the surprising standout is Jonze, who, in his acting debut, proves to possess talents that go beyond his claim to fame in music video directing. His funny and ultimately moving work as Pvt. Conrad Vig, who intensely admires Troy, is the film's true buried treasure.
Michael Dequina twotrey@juno.com | michael_jordan@geocities.com | jordan_host@sportsmail.com | mrbrown@iname.com Mr. Brown's Movie Site: http://welcome.to/mrbrown CinemaReview Magazine: http://www.CinemaReview.com on ICQ: #25289934 | on AOL Instant Messenger: MrBrown23
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews