# Three Kings (1999)

### reviewed by
John Sylva

    Three Kings (1999) by John Sylva     Rating: B

The year is 1991. War has broken out between the United States and Iraq, causing the battle known as Desert Storm. Flash forward to the end of the war. Many men have died, some wounded, some survive without injury, except for their painful memories that haunt them with images of death and sadness. Most survivors would travel from Iraq back to the U.S. to visit their loved ones, reassuring them they are fine. This doesn't go for four certain U.S. troops. What do they do instead of heading back home? Go out to steal gold.

Three Kings focuses on four soldiers who have one duty they wish to accomplish before returning home to the U.S. after Desert Storm has ended- Get rich. Major Sargent Archie Gates (George Clooney), Sgt. Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg), Conrad Vig (Spike Jonze), and Chief (Ice Cube) team up to read a map they found while strip searching an Iraqi soldier, that leads to Saddam Hussein's gold. This task is easier said then done, as the four encounter difficult obstacles throughout their journey to obtain the gold, and must question what's more important to them- being rich, or saving the lives of the innocent people who are being threatened by Iraqi troops.

Three Kings has a strong ensemble cast, with every actor putting forth the necessary effort to create three dimensional, likable characters. It's safe to say Mark Wahlberg gives the most impressive performance of the four protagonists, as the film's most touching and best scenes are left for him to carry. Wahlberg's character appears to be the center of attention of Three Kings, as he is a nice, realistic, family man, whom we care about because the film introduces his wife and daughter, and shows the close bond the family has. In a powerful scene where Wahlberg's character is taken prisoner, and finds a phone to call his wife, we see the upset and hurt in his wife's eyes as she hears her husband being beaten. A similar situation took place in 1998's extraordinarily powerful Saving Private Ryan, where a mother learns two of her sons have died.

Clooney, Jonze, and Cube all turn in solid performances, yet their characters aren't deep enough to bring them any Oscar or Golden Globe nominations. Clooney acts with the same cockiness he does in all of his films, always adding an extra touch of sarcasm, or throwing in smirks here and there, making his characters seem real. As usual, Clooney recites parts of his dialogue without believability, but that has just come to be a common factor in any of his performances.

When Desert Storm took place, I was only five years old, but although I was still extremely young, I remember the impact of the war on America. I remember my parents watching the television every night, hoping for updates, asking me to leave while death tolls were discussed on T.V.. I learned from Three Kings what all the fuss was really about, how Saddam Hussein's people were so very loyal, how the American troops had difficult decisions to make, and how strong the impact of the war was on soldiers' families.

David O. Russell, known mainly for the 1996 romantic comedy Flirting With Disaster, pens and directs this moving and often entertaining war drama. Russell's script contains a few major flaws that bring Three Kings down to the "B" level, as these flaws aren't just a few out of place lines, but flaws that if Three Kings didn't have vibrant direction, a strong, positive message, and Oscar worthy acting, this movie could be a total disaster. The script can't decide whether it wants to be a saddening, realistic war drama, or play cops and robbers with its characters, as it does both, but not without roughness. One moment Three Kings will be effectively showing the feelings of the Iraqi and Arab people, making the viewer feel sorrow and guilt, but at the next moment, the film features our four main characters selfishly only caring of their own priorities. The entire gold plot line isn't one that is necessarily vital to the film, as the best, most moving times are when Three Kings is doing the usual war movie stuff- having battles, throwing some belly laughs at the viewer, and letting you feel the pain of those involved in the war. When gold stealing is the main focus of the film, the interest level for me dies down quickly, as the entire plot line is only an excuse to call Three Kings a dark comedy.

Russell's direction isn't nearly as weak as the flaws in his screenplay, however. His techniques of showing the actual damage done to a human being when a bullet tears through their skin is simply mesmerizing. Russell also effectively shows what is actually happening in war battles. Unlike Saving Private Ryan, Three Kings often puts the battle scenes into slow motion, so you can see the bullet actually enter the victim's body, allowing the viewer to understand that person's pain. Russell's offbeat camera angles are eye candy, as the camera darts to and fro constantly, giving you all angles of the action. The entire film seems to be a khaki color, with the only contrast being in the blue sky, which also makes for visually magnificent sequences.

Three Kings is a clever film with some creative aspects not explored in last year's war hits, Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line. Instead of only making you sympathize with its main soldiers, it makes you feel for almost every character on screen, never letting the viewer judge a character. Every character is explored enough so that even if they are on the "bad" side, in a light, they seem like the good guys. The wiser route with Three Kings would be to eliminate most of the gold plot line, and focus more on human drama, yet the screenplay flip flops between the two themes too often to make the film as touching and moving as it potentially could have been.

The Bottom Line: A strong film with good acting and cinematography, although the morals of the film don't need a robbery plot line to shine through, and touch the viewer.

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