Back in 1999 when I first saw ads and trailers for THREE KINGS, I wasn't expecting something so smart and fresh. It seemed like a simple heist story, but it turned out to be so much more. For me it was the film that firmly positioned George Clooney in my mind as a movie star. Having not seen FLIRTING WITH DISASTER at that time, it was my first experience with the work of director/writer David O. Russell, who was able to perfectly balance between the action, the humor and the meat of the story, while establishing a unique visual style.
Set after the ceasefire of the first Persian Gulf War, Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg, BOOGIE NIGHTS) discovers a map hidden in the butt of an Iraqi soldier, which leads to a bunker where millions of dollars of stolen Kuwaiti gold bullion is being hidden. While Troy plans with no-nonsense Chief Elgin (Ice Cube, BOYZ N THE HOOD) and ignorant hick Conrad Vig (Spike Jonze, director of BEING JOHN MALKOVICH) on how to get the gold, Archie Gates (Clooney, THE PERFECT STORM) hears rumors about the map. He is a sergeant major from special-forces who is about to retire and has long ago stopped caring. Outranking the others, he forces himself into their plans, which if they get caught, they could be court martialed for. As one might expect, their plans don't work out perfectly, getting caught in between Iraqi soldiers and Iraqi rebel forces.
During the first Iraq War, George Bush Sr. encouraged Iraqis to start an uprising against Saddam. Believing that the U.S. would back them up, rebels rose up, to only be squashed by Iraqi soldiers when the U.S. pulled out troupes. During their heist, the soldiers meet Amir Abdulah (Cliff Curtis, ONCE WERE SOLDIERS), an Iraqi businessman who wants a free Iraq, but sees the brutality to come. Amir and his group need the Americans to help them get to a refugee camp in Iran. The irony is that the soldiers could be court martialed for doing the right thing too. In the end, the soldiers and reporters, like Adriana Cruz (Nora Dunn, TV's SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE), begin to wonder what the war was all about. And in one scene, Iraqi soldier Captain Said (Said Taghmaoui, LA HAINE) has a good answer.
Based on a story by John Ridley, Russell crafts what appears to be an action film that turns out to be a dark satire about the war. The various soldiers represent various American impressions of the reasons for the war and of Iraqis and through their experiences of actually working with Iraqis their views change. The film challenges American motives in the Middle East, putting its soldiers in a lose-lose situation whether they do the wrong thing or do the right thing. Russell's film has many of the conventions of an action/war picture, but with a modern warfare twist. The bleached visual style makes the whole film look like it's been out in the desert too long — a look fitting its subject matter. Like other great dark satires, the laughs are painted with great truth and irony to the point where if we weren't laughing, we'd be crying.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
