Three Kings
"Three Kings" with George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze and Nora Dunn. Directed by David O. Russell, written by John Ridley and David O. Russell. MPAA rating R for language, sexuality and graphic violence. Run time 115 minutes.
NOTE: Please forgive me in advance - I'm dead sure that before this is all over, I'll write "dessert" when I mean to write "desert". If you see the word "dessert" from here on out, I mean sand dunes, not Boston Cream Pie. Carry on, soldier.
1991, the last days of the Gulf War - the first war with its own logo and Darth Vader voice-over announcer - are a mixed bag of emotions for the soldiers that fought there. Most are happy it's over, a few couldn't care less, and a few more see the end as an opportunity to loot, plunder and cash in big time.
The alpha male of that last category is Archie Gates, (George Clooney) a Special Forces operative assigned to the Persian Gulf. He knows that Iraq has looted Kuwait, and sees the recovery of part of the spoils of war as an opportunity to retire in comfort. He happens upon a group of GI's who are poring over a somewhat aromatic map recently liberated from an Iraqi national. The map, he reasons, can only be a beacon to the millions in Kuwaiti gold that the Iraqi's have stashed in the desert.
The soldiers, with Gates leading the charge, appropriate vehicles and supplies and head out, deep into the desert to liberate the already once-stolen gold. A simple enough premise probably, but one that provides enough empty canvasses for a moovie that works on several levels.
A couple of things make "Three Kings" stand out for me. One, it has that funny, irreverent and sarcastic bite of a M*A*S*H or Catch-22 - that sense that the characters know you're onto them, but they really don't give a flip, because they're the Pros from Dover after all, and they've got a job to do, so get out of their way. Second, the humor, some of it dry as the desert it's staged in, gives way slowly to a moral crisis and a shot at redemption, as the soldiers struggle with the truly harsh realities of a war in a part of the world they don't really like, understand, or care to embrace. They just want to grab the swag and run, but their collective conscience interferes.
Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, (Brokedown Palace, Fallen, The Usual Suspects) whom we've lauded in previous reviews, hits a solid homer collaborating with director David O. Russell, whom frankly I hadn't heard of, and wouldn't admit it if I had, what with his bio containing the smash hit, "Spanking The Monkey". Wouldn't you sign up for a hostile make over on Sally Jesse if you had to put "Spanking The Monkey" on your resume? Anyway, Sigel and Russell team up and create a solid vision that morphs with context - if you're watching an action scene, bullets are flying, people are dying and things are happening at a pretty good clip, Sigel uses a grainy, contrasty film stock (or they've bumped up the process when they made the print) and a hand-held camera. If, on the other hand , you're making contact with the human side of the soldiers or the Iraqi nationals, the pace slows, the camera settles down, and the film is as smooth as butter. However they managed it, the net effect is startlingly engaging, and acts as a visual buffer. Very cool.
George Clooney is a gritty been there, done that character, and manages it pretty well. The rest of his raiding party, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze have that motley nothing to lose attitude that makes this moovie click.
That, and the humor. There are some pretty good laughs scattered around in "Three Kings", and it's probably a good thing. Played straight, this might have collapsed under its own weight. When it gets serious, it gets waaaay serious, and doesn't apologize for it. War is a nasty way to make a living. The locations are convincingly Middle Eastern, dry, flat and featureless as Adam Sandler's career, and the mood swings from lighthearted short-timer pirates on a comedic looting romp, to a tough and sober look at what war really means.
Mark Wahlberg carries his own weight extremely well in "Three Kings". He'll need to do this several more times before he can really distinguish himself from the pack of twenty-somethings that he has to compete these days with for the better moovie parts. We'll know he's done his homework when we no longer attempt to refer to him as "Marky Mark".
I was surprised - I liked "Three Kings" a lot more than I had expected to. It had some flaws, of course, but not enough to kiss it off entirely. My biggest complaint? Cow abuse. Have we sunk so low that we have to sacrifice animatronic bovines to.......well, you'll see.
Take my three cows to see "Three Kings". It's a pretty full plate, but save room for desert.
NOTE: Please forgive me in advance - I'm dead sure that before this is all over, I'll write "dessert" when I mean to write "desert". If you see the word "dessert" from here on out, I mean sand dunes, not Boston Cream Pie. Carry on, soldier.
1991, the last days of the Gulf War - the first war with its own logo and Darth Vader voice-over announcer - are a mixed bag of emotions for the soldiers that fought there. Most are happy it's over, a few couldn't care less, and a few more see the end as an opportunity to loot, plunder and cash in big time.
The alpha male of that last category is Archie Gates, (George Clooney) a Special Forces operative assigned to the Persian Gulf. He knows that Iraq has looted Kuwait, and sees the recovery of part of the spoils of war as an opportunity to retire in comfort. He happens upon a group of GI's who are poring over a somewhat aromatic map recently liberated from an Iraqi national. The map, he reasons, can only be a beacon to the millions in Kuwaiti gold that the Iraqi's have stashed in the desert.
The soldiers, with Gates leading the charge, appropriate vehicles and supplies and head out, deep into the desert to liberate the already once-stolen gold. A simple enough premise probably, but one that provides enough empty canvasses for a moovie that works on several levels.
A couple of things make "Three Kings" stand out for me. One, it has that funny, irreverent and sarcastic bite of a M*A*S*H or Catch-22 - that sense that the characters know you're onto them, but they really don't give a flip, because they're the Pros from Dover after all, and they've got a job to do, so get out of their way. Second, the humor, some of it dry as the desert it's staged in, gives way slowly to a moral crisis and a shot at redemption, as the soldiers struggle with the truly harsh realities of a war in a part of the world they don't really like, understand, or care to embrace. They just want to grab the swag and run, but their collective conscience interferes.
Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, (Brokedown Palace, Fallen, The Usual Suspects) whom we've lauded in previous reviews, hits a solid homer collaborating with director David O. Russell, whom frankly I hadn't heard of, and wouldn't admit it if I had, what with his bio containing the smash hit, "Spanking The Monkey". Wouldn't you sign up for a hostile make over on Sally Jesse if you had to put "Spanking The Monkey" on your resume? Anyway, Sigel and Russell team up and create a solid vision that morphs with context - if you're watching an action scene, bullets are flying, people are dying and things are happening at a pretty good clip, Sigel uses a grainy, contrasty film stock (or they've bumped up the process when they made the print) and a hand-held camera. If, on the other hand , you're making contact with the human side of the soldiers or the Iraqi nationals, the pace slows, the camera settles down, and the film is as smooth as butter. However they managed it, the net effect is startlingly engaging, and acts as a visual buffer. Very cool.
George Clooney is a gritty been there, done that character, and manages it pretty well. The rest of his raiding party, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, and Spike Jonze have that motley nothing to lose attitude that makes this moovie click.
That, and the humor. There are some pretty good laughs scattered around in "Three Kings", and it's probably a good thing. Played straight, this might have collapsed under its own weight. When it gets serious, it gets waaaay serious, and doesn't apologize for it. War is a nasty way to make a living. The locations are convincingly Middle Eastern, dry, flat and featureless as Adam Sandler's career, and the mood swings from lighthearted short-timer pirates on a comedic looting romp, to a tough and sober look at what war really means.
Mark Wahlberg carries his own weight extremely well in "Three Kings". He'll need to do this several more times before he can really distinguish himself from the pack of twenty-somethings that he has to compete these days with for the better moovie parts. We'll know he's done his homework when we no longer attempt to refer to him as "Marky Mark".
I was surprised - I liked "Three Kings" a lot more than I had expected to. It had some flaws, of course, but not enough to kiss it off entirely. My biggest complaint? Cow abuse. Have we sunk so low that we have to sacrifice animatronic bovines to.......well, you'll see.
Take my three cows to see "Three Kings". It's a pretty full plate, but save room for desert.
