Three Kings Review
by Akiva Gottlieb (akiva AT excite DOT com)October 1st, 1999
Three Kings ***
rated R
Warner Bros. Pictures
113 minutes
starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze, Nora Dunn, Jamie Kennedy,
Mykelti Williamson, Cliff Curtis, Said Taghmaoui
based on a story by John Ridley
written and directed by David O. Russell
I remember critics talking about David O. Russell's first two films, the quirky indies "Spanking The Monkey" and "Flirting With Disaster". The former is about a coming of age story of a boy in the midst of an oedipal relationship, and the latter is about a young man who goes across the country searching for his birth parents. Both are said to be somewhat autobiographical. Both are comedies.
Russell would seem to be an odd choice to write and direct "Three Kings", a story about four Gulf War soldiers who go searching for millions of dollars in gold that Saddam Hussein has stolen from Kuwait. However, despite a number of flaws, David O. Russell's Hollywood debut is a solid, successful effort.
"Three Kings" is not really a war movie. It begins just as the Persian Gulf War has come to an end, and the U.S. army is taking their final prisoners of war. As we learn through title cards which appear on the screen, Archie Gates (George Clooney) is a soldier who's retiring in two weeks, Chief Elgin (Ice Cube) is on an all expenses paid vacation from Detroit, Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg) has a wife and young baby at home, and Vig (Spike Jonze, director of the upcoming "Being John Malkovich") would like nothing more than to be Troy Barlow.
The day the war ends, Troy and Vig find a handwritten map while searching an Iraqi war prisoner (I'm not gonna tell you where they find it on him). Upon further inspection by Chief Elgin, the three realize that it is some kind of treasure map, which should lead to the gold which Saddam is believed to have stolen from Kuwait. Archie, who is supposed to be helping out ambitious news reporter Adrianna Cruz (Nora Dunn), gets wind of their little secret, and declares himself the leader.
The four soldiers go AWOL, take a Humvee and jet out across the deserts of Iraq. But when they reach the city which has the gold, they realize they're in for much more than they bargained for. The war is over, but the Iraqi citizens are still in great danger. President Bush has told them to rise up against Saddam, but how are they supposed to do that with no food and few weapons? The soldiers decide to put their greed aside for a while, and "Three Kings" becomes more dramatic than comedic.
The morals of these four men catch up with them, and without thinking, they break the cease fire treaty while trying to save some villagers. Their new mission is to transport almost 100 Iraqi women and children over the border to Iran. However, when Desert Storm hears about this illegal mission, they set out across the desert to find them.
"Three Kings" has some very powerful moments, and it is the first film to portray the Persian Gulf War, where many soldiers were bored by the lack of action. "Three Kings", however, is very, very graphic in its scenes of violence. Some of the shots are done one frame at a time in slow motion, and the bullets are seen numerous times inside a character's stomach. I don't think that was the lesson that filmmakers should have learned from "Saving Private Ryan".
During some parts of the film, I was thankful that it was a comedy. In quite a few scenes, such as when Troy has been captured and is being interrogated by an criminal, it would be very tough to watch if they weren't intercut with a few comedic riffs involving the other 3 soldiers.
The buzz on "Three Kings" has been great, but it's a slick, satisfying film rather than a masterpiece. David O. Russell has done a fine job with this entertaining and self conciously hip movie, but dont expect it to win Oscars like some say it will.
"Three Kings" manages to squeeze out fine performances by George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube; all three of whom have had their ups and downs. Up and coming actors Spike Jonze and Jamie Kennedy have a couple of annoying little characters, but they each have their own brand of humor and it works.
The ending is a big upper, which should please audiences, but I think that Russell should have followed this powerful film with something more real. Unsung heroes are called unsung heroes because they never are realized for what they are. If these "Three Kings" ended up behind bars for doing something that everyone else was afraid to do, then we would be seeing a more interesting and powerful piece of filmmaking. But, hey, "Three Kings" is a still wonderful entertainment so I should just shut up. Highly recommended, but not for the
squeamish.
a review by Akiva Gottlieb
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