Three Kings - A

On DVD (1999). Rated R, 114 minutes. Trailer.

Wow. I hadn't seen this in a long time and forgot just how unbelievable the film is. Funny, profound and politically astute, this is the definitive Gulf War film, with a very interesting liberal viewpoint in 2008. With great performances from George Clooney, Ice Cube, Mark Wahlberg, Spike Jonze, Nora Dunn and several others (including Maeby from Arrested Development as an Iraqi refugee) and a crackling and truly moving script from Writer/Director David O. Russell, this film is now in my top 100 of all time. Click for more on a film that argues that Bush 41 was a bad person for not creating a free Iraq and taking out Saddam (!):

I can't get over how interesting and informative the film is for the 2008 viewer even though it came out 2 years before 9/11. Since that time most of the US (me in particular) has become much more fluent in the policies, sects and politics of the region and Iraq/Iran in particular, so the film is that much more relevant with that knowledge.

The film is set in the waning days of the first Gulf War, after the peace treaty has been signed and the soldiers are bored out of their mind. Clooney is a world weary Special Forces Major with ambivalence about the world and the US. Wahlberg, Jonze and Cube find a map to Saddam's lost gold, and the 4 lay plans to go and recover it. Things get messy and complicated along the way, allowing Russell to explore greed, war, morality, US involvement and many other issues. Each one is handled intelligently and with the sort of verve that I find mesmerizing.

My favorite scene is when Wahlberg is being interrogated and called 'my main man' by the Iraqi (Saïd Taghmaoui). Clooney gives what may be his best ever performance as an in-charge soulless army man that finds redemption in the desert. Wahlberg and Cube also nail their roles, as does the funny and sad Jonze.

If you haven't seen this, go quickly. If you've seen it, but not recently, its worth your time to see it again.