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Sure, elements of both action and comedy abound in David O Russell's new movie, but at its core it deals with the human elements of a war and the question of how valid US involvement in Saddam's sandpit was. And it deals with this in a quite remarkably innovative and fundamentally moving way, making Three Kings one of the more accessible yet also most powerful anti-war movies around. Four US soldiers extract a map to Saddam's treasure bunkers just as ceasefire has been declared. Although each have their own reasons, all four are driven by greed and thoughts of returning home with more than just sand in their pockets. Soon-to-retire Archie Gates (George Clooney) takes command of Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg), Chief Elgin (Ice Cube) and Conrad Vig (a fantastic Spike Jonze), and together they set off on a clandestine mission to find gold in them thar dunes. Soon their objective becomes a little more complicated than first anticipated, as they get unavoidably caught up in the plight of the rebels left stranded by the US withdrawal. Despite selfish intent (mainly from Barlow), the quartet start to question what is more important to them: the gold or the human tragedy they (supposedly) became soldiers to combat in the first place. The cast put in some quite excellent performances, particularly Wahlberg and Jonze, who captures the naive bravado and fear of his trailer trash character brilliantly. Clooney - an actor who I have previously had no time for whatsoever - also impresses, displaying a humanist side to his battle-hardened role that is equal parts moving and believable. Supporting parts are also good, particularly the young soldier who interrogates Barlow, who underlines the futility of the conflict with pathos and emotion. Russell's direction elevates the movie also, using some innovative and hard-hitting techniques such as grainy film stock and remarkable action sequences (the gunfights are superbly handled, being a kind of cross between The Matrix's pioneering slo-mo and unflinching Tarantino-esque carnage). Indeed, the bruatlity of war is shown for exactly what it is: terrifying, brutal and disgusting; shown inventively by the graphic internal depictions of entry wounds and mutilated organs. Some aspects of the film work less well - particularly the relatively heavy-handed satire of the media's involvement in the conflict - but on the whole Three Kings is a powerful piece - well acted, scripted and directed - that succeeds in its tricky balance between providing an extremely entertaining movie and a refreshingly intelligent one. Back to Screen Scene |
Don't be fooled (put off?) by the trailers for Three Kings, which depict it
as an all-out gung-ho macho posturing action comedy: a Kelly's Heroes Do Iraq
kind of thing.