Film Review: Three Kings

Three Kings is a 1999 Hollywood film directed by David O. Russell. The film gives a real-time depiction of post-war Iraq, with a blend of fact and fiction. The director shoots the film in a third person view that focuses on four soldiers, and their quest to take Saddam’s stolen gold. Three Kings starts with a depiction of Army camp-life in Iraq, the film quickly focuses in on four main characters, Archie Gates, Tony Barlow, Chief Elgin, and Conrad Vig. They have secretly discovered a map leading to an Iraqi gold bunker, and the four of them decide to set out in search of it, unannounced to their superiors. The guys find the bunker in a near by town of Kabala, and begin to load the gold into their trucks. They find captured Iraqi civilians that were uprising against Saddam after he surrender. The aspect of heroism begins to enter the story line when Archie starts to struggle with personal and social morality issues. A gun battle arises in Kabala, and Barlow is captured. The three othe...