Three Kings, based on a story by John Ridley - Nine out of 10

Three Kings, based on a story by John Ridley

Nine out of 10

Although the motion picture is rather impressive, with some of the most talented actors available, a cast led by George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube, what happened on the set casts a shadow over it.

It seems that the director, David O. Russell, is one of the most awful people that work in an important capacity on film sets, for he has been in the center of quite a number of incidents.

Even while working at Three Kings, David O. Russell has demonstrated a rather unfortunate character, for he has attacked an extra, when this one would not throw Clooney on the ground.

From what has been told to the press, the director has been so vicious – yet again – that a conflict ensued, in which Russell invited Clooney to get at him, since the actor has tried to intervene.

George Clooney even stated that he was ready to kill Russell, who had grabbed his actor, and this one in turn grabbed by the throat, very tight and was ready to eliminate the director.

It was not the only terrible event, for Russell has been extremely aggressive with Amy Adams on the set of American Hustle, where Christian Bale has had to intervene and help Adams.

The actress has told about this terrible experience in an interview with GQ, where she stated that life is more important than movies and she had felt awful when working with Russell.

We get that Jennifer Lawrence is ‘Teflon’, she does not take offence, but Amy Adams is not like that and she had suffered a lot for what is, we have to admit it, a wonderful movie.

There is then the story of his verbal violence towards Lily Tomlin, while making I Heart Huckabees, when he called her a “bitch”, disputed with her violently, and then used the word cunt.

It has all been recorded apparently.

As for Three Kings…well, it seemed such a good motion picture…until one learns about how ghastly this key figure can be and this spoils the fun for some people…including the under signed.

We should however cherish the work of the rest of the team, think of the good side of the director, who can be inspired, creative and professional, when he does not attack his crew…

After the Gulf War, a group of American soldiers finds that they may be able to get their hands on Saddam Hussein’s fortune.

Archie Gates aka George Clooney, Troy Barlow aka Mark Wahlberg, Chief Elgin aka Ice Cube and Spike Jonze aka Conrad Vig may become rich.

So rich that one of them could get a Lexus convertible…

No, wait…Lexus does not make convertibles – this is one point of contention between two of them

They find gold, some of the limousines of the dictator, but what may be the most formidable treasure they discover in the desert is the Humanity that makes them help others.

With this message, the film does rise above the average, in that it is a tragic – comedy with an educational, inspirational message.

Yes, they are thrilled to get their hands on a good million dollars to begin with, but the fact that they would help save some poor Iraqis is the most important aspect of the film and they are transformed in the process.

They hesitate and this makes the film ever more credible, for they do not act as the super heroes of the Superman, Spiderman or X-man variety.

When they are asked for help, there are voices that say forget the civilians, we have a job to do.

However reluctantly, they shoot some of the monstrous henchmen of Saddam and they put themselves in serious danger.

Three kings is in other words a remarkable, wonderful film, affected by the image of the man at the helm…