Three Kings (1999)

Directed by David O. Russell. Starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube, Spike Jonze, Cliff Curtis, Nora Dunn, Jamie Kennedy, Saïd Taghmaoui, Mykelti Williamson, Judy Greer, Holt McCallany. [R]

Acerbic, very entertaining anti-war film is a hybrid of political satire, wartime action, ideological drama, and heist thriller. Four restless soldiers stationed in Iraq in the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War team up to locate and pilfer a sizable stash of gold bullion that had been stolen from Kuwait, but end up sticking around to help a group of anti-Saddam prisoners and rebels targeted by the Iraqi Republican Guard. As cynical as it is softhearted, writer/director Russell careens so recklessly between its varying tones, its genre thrills and irreverent comedy and sober tragedies, that it probably shouldn’t work nearly as well as it does. Well-cast, written with vigor and intelligence, and the visual textures and rhythms have been brilliantly conceived and photographed, utilizing experimental combinations of film stocks and lenses, plus a wild selection of camera angles that made it look like no other war film at the time. Story credited to John Ridley after Russell borrowed the writer’s “heist set in the Gulf War” premise for his own script treatment. Look for a young Alia Shawkat as Curtis’ daughter.

91/100