rated on a 4-star scale screening venue : odeon ( liverpool city centre ) released in the uk by warner bros on march 3 , 2000 ; certificate 15 ; 115 minutes ; country of origin usa ; aspect ratio 2 . 35 : 1 directed by david o . russell ; produced by edward l . mcdonnell , charles roven , paul junger witt . written by david o . russell ; from a story by john ridley . photographed by newton thomas sigel ; edited by robert k . lambert . david o . russell's " three kings " is the first war movie i have seen that takes the camera into an imaginary bullet wound to show it filling up with bile . what's more , the moment seems perfectly normal in the context of the film . this is a fast-talking , cheerfully deranged depiction of army intervention in iraq , which plays with style , structure and tone in the dangerously excited manner of a fire-eating juggler . the story takes place in 1991 , just after the end of the gulf war . in a camp of american soldiers who are rounding up prisoners and waiting to go home , major archie gates ( george clooney ) discovers an " ass map " -- a treasure map , that is , found between a captive's butt cheeks . gates orders a goofy hillbilly , private conrad vig ( spike jonze ) , to take it out . " can't i have a glove , sir ? " he asks . " no , " gates replies , " that's how the chain of command works . " gates and vig consult two reliable young comrades , muscle-bound family man sergeant troy barlow ( mark wahlberg ) and firm , shrewd staff sergeant chief elgin ( ice cube ) . together the quintet deduce the location of the loot to be an iraqi army bunker near cordoba , and guess that it will be several million dollars worth of kuwaiti gold bullion . their plan : to steal it . if they get caught : they'll say they were on a legitimate mission to rescue their allies' property from the enemy . since we never see movie characters plan heists and then follow them through without a hitch , we know this scheme will somehow go wrong . our heroes' obstacle comes when they're about to leave the village in which the gold-filled bunker is situated . iraqi guards are making clear they plan to harm civilians , and it would be wrong to leave them to do so . there is a scene of agonising effectiveness here , as the action goes into slow motion to mark the cease-fire's dissolution into chaos . a mother is shot in full view of her husband and children . soldiers resume fighting . watching this at a delayed pace accentuates the tension , the horror , and the reality of each bullet , and all we can do is sit there , watching , feeling helpless . of course , that's all the american soldiers can do for most of the time . george bush may have urged iraqi citizens to rise up against saddam hussein's evil regime , but he's not letting his troops help them , because the gulf war wasn't about liberating people , and was fought to make sure kuwait could keep supplying oil to the western world . most people already realise and are resigned to that , but " three kings " angrily indicts bush for it , with a second half that is dramatic and political . the film surrounds gates , vig , barlow and elgin with hypocrisy and devastation as they attempt to get back to their base , fight off hostile fire , save the lives of refugees and salvage some bullion . that's a little anticlimactic , as the opening chapters are full of brilliantly crude slapstick satire , and at times thereafter the film becomes inappropriately slowed down when accommodating its serious stuff . russell , who wrote and directed , should have found some way to blend the different elements in less jarring fashion . it is creative to follow an elaborate practical gag about pretending to be saddam with realistic footage of refugee orphans , but it isn't necessarily wise , because it means the audience is still laughing when we should be settling down for sober thought . what " three kings " conveys brilliantly , throughout everything light and heavy , is the utter confusion of war -- in the opening words ( " are we still shooting ? " ) , the disorganisation of the u . s . forces' barracks , and the mad dash to safety the film spends most of its time on . we can decipher what's going on during immediate moments , but the general experience is intentionally perplexing and dizzying . ambiguous individual point of view shots contribute to this , as does unstable , screw-loose pacing . newton thomas sigel's cinematography is the most crucial element in putting us in the middle of the unpredictability . in the tradition of a lot of recent hollywood war dramas , it's shaky and grainy , but its underdeveloped film stock is a much more original touch , making the frame extremely sensitive to light . there are huge contrast changes all the time , and the film seems to be reacting to situations , and seeing images , rather than creating them . the four main actors work subtle wonders , too , performing in ways that balance each other's efforts nicely . clooney has authoritative star power ; jonze , who has also done good work as a director , is pleasing in what is essentially a jester role ; wahlberg is charming and boyish ; cube reassures us that there's someone sensible in this motley crew . as of yet , the only other theatrical motion picture dealing with the gulf war has been edward zwick's " courage under fire " , from 1996 . so it's amazing , when you think about it , that russell has so soon found the courage to make a bizarre comedic commentary on the subject . shame on warner bros for marketing it as a dumb action flick , in ads that juxtapose serious-sounding lines with explosions . they're shooting themselves in the foot , as fans of that sort of thing will be put off when they learn what the movie is actually about , and most other people will the alienated by the commercials . " three kings " deserves better treatment -- uneven patches notwithstanding , it's original , powerful , and very unexpected . copyright ( c ) 2000 ian waldron-mantganiplease visit , and encourage others to visit , the uk critic's website , which is located at <a href= " http : //members . aol . com/ukcritic " >http : //members . aol . com/ukcritic</a> 
