Three Kings (1999)

A confident hybrid of M*A*S*H, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Dr. Strangelove, Three Kings is one of the most seriously funny war movies ever made. Improving the premise of Kelly's Heroes with scathing intelligence, it explores the odd connection between war and consumerism in the age of Humvees and cellular phones. Writer-director David O. Russell's third film (after Spanking the Monkey and Flirting with Disaster), it's a no-holds-barred portrait of personal conscience in the volatile arena of politics, played out by one of the most gifted filmmakers to emerge in the 1990s.

George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze (director of Being John Malkovich) play a quartet of U.S. soldiers who, disillusioned by Operation Desert Storm, decide to steal $23 million in gold hijacked from Kuwait by Saddam Hussein's army. Getting the bullion out of an Iraqi stronghold is easy; keeping it is a potentially lethal proposition. By the end of their mercenary mission, the Americans can no longer ignore wartime atrocities (and neither can we--the film is boldly unflinching), and conscience demands their aid to Kuwaiti rebels abandoned by President George Bush's fickle wartime policy. This is serious stuff indeed, but Russell infuses Three Kings with a keen sense of the absurd, and the entire film is an exercise in breathtaking visual ingenuity. Despite a conventional ending that's mildly disappointing for such a brashly original film, Three Kings conveys the brutal madness of war while making you laugh out loud at the insanity. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

What kind of movie is it? I don't know.

It's not a war movie . Neither it's an action nor a comedy. There are a few funny scenes. December 8, 2008

One of the greatest war films ever

After the end of the Gulf War, four American soldiers (George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze) stumble across a map (in the rear of an Iraqi prisoner, no less) that gives the location of a cache of Kuwaiti gold bullion that had been stolen by Saddam Hussain. Wanting to better their positions in life and wanting to see some of the "action" that they missed out on, the soldiers set out to retrieve the bullion for themselves, but in the process come to see the true horrors of war.

"Three Kings" is David O. Russell's third feature, and in my opinion, far and away his best film to date. Don't get me wrong, I really like Russell's film, in particular his first film, "Spanking the Monkey", which I think is brilliant, but after making two dysfunctional family films (the other one being "Flirting with Disaster"), to then switch to the completely different genre of war movies, AND in the process, to make one of the best war movies of all time, is nothing short of incredible. "Three Kings" is a war comedy with something to say. At times it becomes a bit preachy. In particular, in the scene where Wahlberg is captured and is talking about the war with his interrogator, I felt as though Russell was giving me a lecture on why war is bad. Nevertheless, the fact that Russell can manage to take his message and place it in the middle of a thoroughly quotable, darkly comic action movie that is extremely entertaining, never ceases to impress me. Like most people, when I see a movie, my aim is to be entertained, but if the film also makes me think, then that's a bonus and this film really makes you think.

I recently heard somewhere that, while this movie was being filmed, George Clooney got into a fight with David O. Russell and ended up punching him. If that's true, then I'm even more impressed with Clooney than I previously was, because he is professional enough to turn in a great acting performance in spite of these feelings. All of the leads in this film are great, from Clooney as the self-serving special forces officer, to Nora Dunn as the aging journalist who spends the film chasing the story of her career.

Overall, I highly recommend this film, and if you've already seen it and love it, then I recommend that you try "Jarhead" and "Buffalo Soldiers". Together these three movies go together in my mind as the three greatest military/war comedies of all time, and if you like one, you will probably like all three.
November 27, 2008

Just As Good As I Remembered

I remember how much I enjoyed this movie in the theaters and had not seen it for quite ahwile so I picked up the DVD.

It was just as I remembered it - engaging and engrossing from the beginning to the end. Clooney, Wahlberg and the others all turn in solid performances. (After Boogie Nights and the performance here, it was pretty evident Mark Wahlberg was going to be very good.)

The plot, twists and turns keeps you going. Though it may be broadly similar as "Kelly's Heroes" (another great movie, just thinking of Don Rickles or Don Sutherland in that can make me laugh) it is not the same movie, nor does it try to be. If you have not seen this yet, do not watch it with any other movie or comparison in mind.

Though at times comedic, there is more to this movie than comedy and it would be difficult to try to compare it to another movie.

It is a blend of a few movies all in one and succeeds in creating its own identity. September 12, 2008

Loud shoot-em-up

Post Gulf War tale of three US soldiers who plan a heist of Kuwait gold stolen by Saddam. Quick cutting makes for quick action. The morality at the center is the meat of the movie. Clooney is pretty good, and Ice Cube is the new Jim Brown. Less overall than it could have been. Filmed in Arizona, but pretty convincing scenery. September 7, 2008

Three Abdications

My struggle with THREE KINGS is that I viewed it the first time in the mistaken belief that it was an updated version of KELLY'S HEROES. Additionally as a veteran of the first Gulf War I found very little in this movie to remind me of those first confusing weeks immediately after the cease fire.

In THREE KINGS we find a group of Desert Storm GIs, led by George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube, setting off on an unauthorized search for a cache of Iraqi gold. So far, so good. During their quest they encounter both passive Iraqi troops, easily pushed aside, and pockets of fanatical Republican Guard soldiers complete with armor. After hustling off the gold the plot gets unnecessarily confusing with this band of raiders finding themselves in the middle of a civil war between Iraqi civilians and the ruthless guard.

From this point onward the plot tumbles downhill with a member of the group captured and tortured, later rescued, only to become immediately wounded during a firefight. Clooney and his men push their way east with an ever growing entourage of Iraqi refugees only to find themselves arrested by a contingent of US forces blocking their convoy from Iran. Fortunately the presence of the press compels the Army to allow the Iraqis to pass into Iran and the renegade soldiers are treated as heroes.

Some have rated this film as the greatest war film of all time. I disagree. It is certainly not a modern KELLY'S HEROES and, though sometimes bizarre, does not have the class to be in league with CATCH 22. More annoying are the hand-held camera shots and bleached out color negative that gave the film a high contrast and blue-tinted magazine look. The bottom line is that you have to have a passable story first before you start tinkering in the film lab.



August 5, 2008

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