THREE KINGS (director/writer: David O. Russell; screenwriter: based on a story by John Ridley; cinematographer: Newton Thomas Sigel; cast: George Clooney (Special Forces Capt. Archie Gates), Mark Wahlberg (Sgt.Troy Barlow), Ice Cube (Staff Sgt. Chief Elgin), Spike Jonze (Conrad Vig), Nora Dunn (Adrianna Cruz), Cliff Curtis (Amir ), Saïd Taghmaoui (Captain Saïd), Mykelti Williamson (Colonel Horn), Jamie Kennedy (Walter), 1999)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
The Persian Gulf War of 1991 is put to celluloid and made into this action-packed adventure story and intelligent political satire of the once seemingly popular war, that would supposedly regain the American sense of "feeling good" about itself that needed resurrection after the Vietnam debacle. This was a war that made Americans proud of the technology developed such as, smart bombs, and of how casualty free and quickly the war was won, as it was watched on TV.
David O. Russell (Spanking the Monkey/Flirting With Disaster) sets his contemporary story in Iraq during the immediate aftermath of the Gulf War, as he lampoons the motives behind U.S. foreign policy, questioning what President Bush's war really accomplished, even if it did succeed in liberating Kuwait. He has made an unconventional but traditional anti-war Hollywood movie, in the likes of films such as, Catch-22 and M*A*S*H. This one has a potent bite to it, just like the others, but maybe because it is filmed so soon after the bubble for American success has busted, that it seems to have such a deliciously absurd bite to it. With Saddam Hussein still in power, and the fact that there are military personal still in harm's way over there at a great cost to this country, as this country is stuck with the problem of making sure Saddam doesn't rebuild his army with nuclear weapons. It makes one wonder who the Americans really have helped with this war aside from some rich Kuwaitis. What the film clearly shows, is that the bulk of the Iraqi people, not the inner circle of the dictator, seem to be bearing the brunt of the war's dire consequences.
The story begins as three army reservists called up to fight the war, but not seeing any action, come upon a map of hidden gold bullions stolen by Saddam Hussein from the Kuwaitis, stuffed up a prisoner's crack in his butt and decide to go after the gold on their own. They are: Sgt. Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg), who sees this as an opportunity to provide his wife and infant back home with some financial security, Conrad Vig (Spike Jonze-director of Being John Malkovich), a high school drop-out who wants to be like Troy, so much so, that he would follow him anywhere, and Staff Sgt. Chief Elgin (Ice Cube), someone who believes he can put a magical circle of Jesus around himself and be protected from any harm. Their plans change when a cynical veteran of the Special Forces, Captain Archie Gates (George Clooney), who is about to retire from the service, gets wind of what these men have found and takes charge of the smelly situation, and the three become a quartet of rogues.
These self-seeking fortune hunters, who have forgotten about their army duty in favor of doing what's best for themselves, decide that they should have the stolen gold instead of Saddam or Kuwait. They go out in a stolen Humvee across the Iraqi desert to find the hidden bunker that holds the gold, and they find the gold alright, but they also find Iraqi rebels intent on rising up against Saddam. Saddam's army is busy putting down the rebellion, an uprising in which President Bush is sending out mixed messages, where on the one hand he tells the Iraqis to revolt and America will help, but on the other hand he decides not to help them, and does nothing to stop Saddam from killing those who were foolish enough to believe the American president. This helps these rogues to take advantage of the situation, as Saddam's loyalists look the other way when they take the gold, and instead will focus solely on the rebels.
The Americans escape with forty million in gold-as the Iraqi soldiers let them go unharmed- but they get caught in a cross-fire between the rebels and Saddam's soldiers, and the Americans wrestle with their consciences, as Captain Gates, their philosophical leader, decides to change his mind and to become altruistic and help the rebels get out of harm's way, despite the problem it now leaves them with of escaping with the gold, as Saddam's men start to go after them, and will capture Troy in the shootout.
Troy is brought back to the bunker of Saddam's elite forces and is tortured, as the Iraqi soldier (Saïd Taghmaoui) tells him that America only fights for the oil and has done a tremendous amount of killing and mutilation (including killing his child and crippling his wife) with its bombing policy, and for him to believe that the Americans have come to the aid of Kuwait for the sake of justice is laughable, if justice alone was the reason for their help, then America would have to become policeman for the world and would always be coming to the aid of victimized countrys. He compares what his country did, in stealing the gold, with what Troy and his group are now selfishly doing for themselves.
The premise of the film is excellent; the story succeeds as both an entertaining action film and as a searingly funny black comedy, it is even effective as a valuable history lesson. There are plenty of odd touches that give the film a fresh feel to it, such as, an exploding cow, footballs that explode, a slow motion shot tracing the horrorific damage a bullet does when it enters the body, as it shows that most victims die from sepsis that results from a release of bile into the bloodstream, and finally, to the scene of a rebel bunker full of stolen Kuwaiti luxury cars being comically bartered to the Americans by the rebel's chief officer.
The actors are brilliantly cast and make up for the lack of depth of their characters by giving engaging performances: George Clooney is both heroic and devilish, presenting a commanding stature for his authoritative role. Wahlberg, as the naive all-American boy with a dark side to him, serves the film well. Jonze is a real hoot and comes across as the kind of dim soldier whom it is easy to feel sorry for and not get too upset with him over his obvious mental defects. Ice Cube is solid. Nora Dunn as Adrianna Cruz, a CNN-type of reporter, out for the hard facts of the war, but given the run-around by the military brass, captures the essence of this media war in all its gamesmanship. What results is a brave film, one that has a surreal and trippy feel to it, with some mortifying comedy dished out and some serious questions being raised about a war that can't come to a proper conclusion anytime too soon, as Russell explores a recent part of American history that surprisingly hasn't been touched upon by other films, as of yet.
The war is covered with more personal detail than I got from watching it on CNN. I feel that the filmmaker has caught the mood of most of the soldiers, who don't understand the politics of the war and just want to go home in one piece, of the career brass who are in it for promotions, the media reporters who want to not only get the story but be the first one to get it, and the politicians who can find a rational for whatever they do. The film ultimately shows that anything is possible in the amoral climate of a dictatorship and a consumer country out to protect its own interest. The Three Kings turns out not to be a film about wisemen, as a Biblical allusion, of which the title alludes to, but is about four typical Americans who must make difficult choices that go against their grain of nature. The reward for the audience, is seeing an exciting film, with beautiful cinematography, in addition to seeing a film that has a grave purpose to it and is funny in a serious way.
REVIEWED ON 10/7/99 GRADE: B+
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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