Three Kings (David O. Russell, 1999): USA

Reviewed by Kate Marsden. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2020.

Three Kings is a graphic action-packed comedy that blends horror with hilarity. The film follows a group of American soldiers on a mission to retrieve 23 million dollars worth of stolen gold from a small Iraqi town where Saddam Hussein’s forces have taken the supply (and control of the town) to bring back to Kuwait. Their strength (physical, mental and emotional), loyalty and morals are tested to the highest degree when they decide to help the innocent townspeople to safety.

This film was uniquely entertaining in a way that I had never seen. Even the opening scenes were presented in such an attention-grabbing manner with freeze frames of the lead characters along with catchy bullet-point descriptions of who they were such as “Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlburg): new father”. Or “Adrianna Cruz (Nora Dunn): five time Emmy runner-up.” Or “Chief Elgin (Ice Cube): on a four month paid vacation from Detroit.” This reminded me of the opening scenes from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World where the same introductory descriptive technique is used. These two films are quite different so I was surprised that I came to this connection. However, they are similar in that they both are action films chock full of comedic moments-one just happens to be in a fantasy video game-like realm and the other is based on the reality of war in the Middle East. From the first three minutes of the film, one can already get a sense of the very comedic writing.

This film is the definition of an emotional rollercoaster. One scene is ridiculously comedic while the next is a series of horrifying and heartbreaking events. Even though this film was filled with wildly shocking ups and downs it had so many great touching aphorisms. There’s a scene when a soldier is asked by one of his superiors what is the most important thing in life. The soldier responds, “Family.” The superior then tells him that “necessity is the most important thing in life but it can change”. I found this line to be really meaningful because even what it comes to providing for family and loved ones, it really is based on providing them with the necessities of life.

The cinematography was also done in such a creative and captivating way. For example, there were these slow motion GIF-like shots of shoot-outs and such. There was a also striking POV shot during a scene when Barlow and Conrad Big (Spike Jonze) both get shot and the angle is as if the viewer is laying on the ground alongside their fellow soldier in their last moments ad trying to console them while also fighting for their own life.

Silence speaks loudly in this film as well. It’s ironic though because certain devastating moments are in complete silence while others are brought to life with a cacophony of sound or energetic music that can either make the scene hilarious or heart-wrenching.

I had the pleasure of attending a Q & A discussion after the screening with director David O. Russell that provided such interesting behind-the-scenes insight to this eye-opening and perspective-changing piece of cinema.