Three Kings Film

Three Kings is a 1999 satirical war drama film written and directed by David O. Russell from a story by John Ridley about a gold heist in the style of Kelly's Heroes. It takes place during the 1991 Iraqi uprising against Saddam Hussein following the end of the first Persian Gulf War.

The film stars George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze. Film critic Roger Ebert described it as a "weird masterpiece, a screw-loose war picture that sends action and humor crashing head-on into each other and spinning off into political anger."[1] The film gets its name from the character Conrad's (Jonze) outburst: "We three kings be stealin' the gold...", a parody of the Christmas carol We Three Kings of Orient Are.

Plot

Outline

Three Kings revolves around four U.S. soldiers attempting to steal seized Kuwaiti gold bullion from the Iraqi bunkers. During their journey they become involved with a badly outgunned and desperate group of Iraqi Shia rebels who have risen against Saddam's regime but were abandoned by the Coalition. The film deals with the aftermath of George H. W. Bush's appeal to Iraqis to rise up against the tyranny, and the ensuing massacre as Saddam's loyalists put down the popular rebellion, killing many thousands of civilians.

Synopsis

The film opens with Sergeant First Class Troy Barlow (Wahlberg) shooting a surrendering Iraqi Regular Army soldier due to confusion over the rules of engagement following the end of the Gulf War. Although Private First Class Conrad Vig (Jonze) compliments him on the kill, Troy takes no pleasure in it. The two begin to disarm and search the surrendering Iraqi soldiers, and while forcibly subduing a resistant Iraqi officer they find a document hidden between his buttocks. The document appears to be a map, and Troy decides not to notify his commanding officer, instead taking the "Iraqi ass map" to Staff Sergeant Chief Elgin (Cube), a friend of his. While the three of them discuss the implications of their discovery they leave Specialist Walter Wogeman (Jamie Kennedy) to stand guard outside their tent.

Meanwhile, Major Archie Gates (Clooney), a Special Forces soldier in the same camp, is trading sex for stories with a journalist, Cathy Daitch (Greer), when he is interrupted by Adriana Cruz (Nora Dunn), the television reporter who has been assigned to Archie. Adriana tells Archie of the rumors of a secret map being discovered. Archie ditches Adriana and enters the tent of Troy, Conrad and Chief, against the protestations of Walter. Archie convinces the three soldiers that the document is a map of Saddam's bunkers, containing gold bullion stolen from Kuwait. They decide to steal the gold themselves and set off in search of it in a Humvee.

Using the cease-fire orders from President Bush, the Americans are able to raid and secure the bunkers without any bloodshed. There, among other goods plundered from Kuwait, they find the gold. As they are leaving they see a prisoner executed by the newly arrived Iraqi Republican Guard troops, and decide to abandon the plan to "grab the gold and go." They rescue a group of Iraqi prisoners including a local rebel leader and start a private mini-war against Saddam's loyalist soldiers.

After the firefight in the village and arrival of the Iraqi reinforcements, the Americans' vehicles are destroyed as they blunder into a minefield and the Iraqi soldiers capture Troy. A group of rebels rescue the remaining Americans and take them to their underground hideout. There, Conrad, Chief and Archie agree to help the rebels and their families reach the Iranian border, but not before they rescue Troy.

Meanwhile, Troy has been taken to an underground bunker. Placed in a room full of Kuwaiti cell phones, he manages to call his wife and tells her to report his location to the Army. His call is cut short when he is dragged out and transferred to an interrogation room. Electrical wires are placed around his ears, and an Iraqi intelligence officer, Captain Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui), berates him about the hypocrisy of American involvement in the region. Troy is electric shocked several times, and finally forced to drink motor oil by Saïd, who had lost his family during the American bombing of Baghdad.

The group meet up with a band of Iraqi Army deserters who are willing to help them by selling them a fleet of luxury cars stolen from Kuwait. Among these vehicles was the Infiniti M30 Convertible, which was referenced throughout the movie by Chief. With these cars they go to the bunker to save Troy, and scare away most of its defenders by spreading the rumor that an enraged Saddam is coming to kill them. The Infiniti Convertible is blown up and after storming the bunker they free Troy, who spares the life of his torturer, as well as more Shi'ites held in a dungeon. Leaving the complex, they are attacked by an armed helicopter, which Chief destroys by throwing a Nerf ball rigged with explosives at it. During a shootout with a couple of returning Republican Guards, Troy and Conrad are shot. Conrad Vig dies, and Troy, suffering from a punctured lung, has a flutter valve placed on his chest to allow air to escape.

Archie then makes radio contact with Walter at base asking for a transport, offering the drivers $100,000 each. He then orders that each of the Shi'ites be given a bar of gold and the rest buried. Planning to help the Shi'ites escape, they make their way to the Iranian border, heavily guarded by government forces. After finally reaching the border they are stopped by the American soldiers and arrested. Archie finally offers the rest of the gold to the other Americans in exchange for letting the refugees through.

The movie closes stating that all of the soldiers were cleared of their charges thanks to Adriana Cruz's reporting. Archie and Chief now work as military advisers to action films, and Troy is the owner of a carpet store. The closing epilogue states that the stolen gold was returned to Kuwait, although the Kuwaitis reported some was missing.