Three Kings
Striking enough when it came out in 1999, these days it looks a masterpiece, even a classic.
Works on all levels, as a heist movie, a war movie, a political thriller. Best part is, it doesn’t let you know that’s what it’s doing. And I’m sure that hurt its box office. But the disparate elements, any one of which could jar the others in lesser hands, are well-balanced and forcefully presented.
This is made all the more impressive by the fact that nothing David O. Russell had done up to that point gave any indication that he would be a good guy to direct a heist/war/political-thriller movie. And yet, scene after scene, he stages complicated, visceral action sequences not just competently but with flair, vigor, ingenuity and innovation.
Like Nora Dunn’s reporter, I had no idea why we invaded Iraq in 1991. Had no idea what was at stake, who we were helping and why, except that it had something to do with Saddam and Kuwait and oil. This movie, which seemed alarming and radical in 1999, now seems squarely mainstream, circumspect and humane in its treatment of volatile subject matter. I don’t know who was responsible for green-lighting this movie, but whoever it was, way to go.
The acting is uniformly impressive. In a movie that’s kind of all about finding layers of meaning, there isn’t a superficial performance in the bunch. But after absorbing the star wattage of Clooney and Wahlberg, two performances stick out for me: Ice Cube and Spike Jonze as the rest of the squad. Both of them deliver subtle, complex and nuanced portraits of individuals who could have easily, and entertainingly, been portrayed as loudmouths, louts or fools. It makes me wish that Ice Cube had better scripts written for him and Spike Jonze did more acting.
Watching Spike Jonze’s performance, specifically, made me think of how the role of “ignorant hick” could have been played. I thought of Tim-Blake Nelson in O Brother and how broad and comical he is compared to Jonze in this (as directed to be, I’m sure). And then I realized, Hey, that’s George Clooney again, and Hey, they cruelly mistreat a cow in that movie too! And hey, they’re seeking a fortune in that movie too!
Any other connections between Three Kings and O Brother are welcome.
Everyone keeps telling me about this movie – you’re the final nail in the coffin. I’m netflixing it.
PS- how’s the input coming? Got any ideas yet? Do let us know.
They both start off with a bunch of people in fetters.
Three primary characters, which isn’t too unusual. Lots of dust. Both took place in the past, to varying degrees. Pity I don’t remember more of Three Kings…
“‘Peace on Earth?’ What the…”
Jonze/Nelson
Like Jonze, Nelson is also a director when he’s not playing a hayseed.
Antiquity
And Three Kings is ‘inspired’ by the New Testament in the same way as O Brother is ‘inspired’ by The Odyssey.
Re: Antiquity
Okay, I’m stumped. How is Three Kings inspired by the New Testament? Apart from the title, of course.
If anything, I would think there is a more Old Testament angle to it, taking place as it does in the Fertile Crescent and all.
Re: Jonze/Nelson
Indeed. Point to Anonymous.
Three Kings is one of those movies that is both exhilarating and depressing. Exhilarating for all the reasons Todd mentions: the multiple layering of its genres and stories, the fantastic performances, and, for me, it also manages to present a point-of-view on the World We Live In without judging any of its characters. One scene that sticks out indelibly is Marky Mark’s torture scene and the speech from his Iraqi torturer about how an American bomb brought the roof down on his wife and son all while he calls him “My man, my main man.”
Its depressing to think that audiences avoided this movie because of its depth and complexity. I guess they’d rather see RV.
Got nothing to offer on the similarities between Three Kings and O Brother. Sorry.
The thing I like about that scene is how the torturer hates, hates, hates America, but at the same time has taken all his English from American vernacular, all “Main Man” and “Buddy” and so forth. And his views on Michael Jackson hold up today.
Globalism and its discontents is a theme running through the whole movie. There is a real clash going on between the Saddam loyalists and the rebels, but if you press any of them, they’re not politically motivated at all, they just want to open a business, make some money, take care of their families. Y’know, the American Dream. Which of course is the point of the incredible shot where Wahlberg’s wife is blown up while talking on the phone; we could not, and in some ways still cannot, conceive of anything like that happening on American soil. A gigantic military superpower deciding they don’t like our politics, so we’re going to bomb the shit out of towns of civilians?
On 9/11, the quote that made the most sense to me was “Welcome to the rest of the world.”
That torture scene and the brilliant actor playing the torturer is one of those movie scenes that I think about again and again.