Three Kings

Review -   Three Kings the new George Clooney/Mark Wahlberg/Ice Cube vehicle is nothing you haven’t seen before.  Which is why it's nothing special. Give the film Harvey Keitel/Steve Buscemi/Leon and it coulda been about drug money in New York.  Every thing about this film is unnecessary including the film itself.  Like I said it's been done...many, many times.

How about some good news?  David O. Russell (Spanking the Monkey & Flirting With Disaster) does an amazing job with this material.  I wouldn't say he puts a fresh spin on the material but he draws, very effectively, every ounce of pulp from the tired lemons of his material.  Enough for a matinee $ ticket.

Only one actor stands apart here and that's Spike Jonze, an award winning video, commercial, & short film director (can you believe that).  Spike plays Conrad Vig the dopey military kat who sings: "We three kings be stealin' the gold" from the preview.  He reminded me of someone you might see on King of the Hill.  Nothing special, mind you, but more memorable than the rest.  Nora Dunn (SNL) and Jamie Sheridan (Scream) both have cameos.

This movie begins with a bad idea set within a war torn country (for greater dramatic effect).  And spirals our heroes (?) into a moral dilemma.  Which of course makes going to a military prison (either Iraqi or American) somehow worth it all.  Not in my neighborhood.

-m-