Three Kings (film)
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{{Infobox Film |
name = Three Kings |
image = Three kings.jpg|
caption = Theatrical release poster for ''Three Kings'' |
imdb_id = 0120188 |
writer = [[David O. Russell]] (screenplay)<br>[[John Ridley]] (story) |
starring = [[George Clooney]]<br>[[Mark Wahlberg]]<br>[[Ice Cube]]<br>[[Spike Jonze]]<br>[[Cliff Curtis]]<br>[[Nora Dunn]]<br>[[Jamie Kennedy]] |
director = [[David O. Russell]] |
producer = Michael Hertzberg<br>Edward McDonnell<br>Charles Roven<br>[[Paul Junger Witt]] |
distributor = [[Warner Bros.]] |
released = [[October 1]], [[1999]] |
runtime = 114 min. |
language = English, Arabic |
music = |
budget = ~ [[US$]]48 million<ref>[[IMDb]]</ref> |
amg_id = 1:180980|
imdb_id = 0120188 |
}}
'''''Three Kings''''' is a [[1999 in film|1999]] [[action film|action]] [[comedy film|comedy]] [[drama film|drama]] [[war film]] written and directed by [[David O. Russell]] from a story by [[John Ridley]] about a [[gold]] [[Robbery|heist]] in the style of ''[[Kelly's Heroes]]''. It takes place during the [[1991 uprisings in Iraq|1991 Iraqi uprising]] against [[Saddam Hussein]] following the end of the first [[Gulf War|Persian Gulf War]].
The movie 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."''<ref name="Ebert">{{cite news
| last = Ebert
| first = Roger
| title = Three Kings
| publisher = Chicago Sun-Times
| date = [[October 4]], 1999
| url = http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19991004/REVIEWS/910040306/1023
| accessdate = 2006-09-26}}</ref> The films gets its name from the character Conrad's outburst: ''"We three kings be stealin' the gold..."'', clearly a parody of the Christmas carol ''[[We Three Kings of Orient Are]]''.
==Plot==
===Outline===
''Three Kings'' revolves around four [[U.S. Army|U.S. soldiers]] attempting to steal seized [[Kuwait]]i [[gold bullion]] from the [[Iraq]]i [[bunker]]s. 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 [[Gulf War#The end of active hostilities|end of the Gulf War]]. Although [[Private First Class]] Conrad Vig (Jonze), a simple minded, vaguely [[racist]] [[hillbilly]], compliments him on the kill, Barlow 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 Barlow 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 (rank)|Specialist]] Walter Wogeman ([[Jamie Kennedy]]) to stand guard outside their tent.
Meanwhile, [[Major]] Archie Gates (Clooney), a [[United States Army Special Forces|Special Forces]] soldier in the same camp, is having sex with a female journalist when he is interrupted by Adriana Cruz ([[Nora Dunn]]), a television reporter who has been assigned to Gates. Cruz tells Gates of the rumors of a secret map being discovered. Gates ditches Cruz and enters the tent of Barlow, Vig and Elgin, against the protestations of Specialist Wogeman. Gates 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]] vehicle.
[[Image:Three Kings (movie) Gold scene.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Gates, Elgin and Barlow discover the Kuwaiti gold bullion]]
Using the [[cease-fire]] orders from [[George H. W. Bush|President Bush]], the Americans are able to raid and secure the bunkers without any bloodshed. There, among other goods [[plunder]]ed from Kuwait, they find the gold. As they are leaving they see a female 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 the 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 Sergeant Barlow. A group of rebels rescue the remaining Americans and take them to their underground hideout. There, Vig, Elgin and Gates agree to help the rebels and their families reach the Iranian border, but not before they rescue Barlow.
Meanwhile, Barlow has been taken to an underground bunker converted from an ancient ruin. Placed in a room full of Kuwaiti [[cell phone]]s, he manages to call his wife and tells her to report his location to his [[commanding officer]]. 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 Captain ([[Saïd Taghmaoui]]) berates him about the hypocrisy of American involvement in the region. Barlow is [[electric shock]]ed several times, and finally forced to drink [[motor oil]] by the Iraqi officer, who had lost his family during the American bombing of [[Baghdad]].
The group meet up with a band of Iraqi Army [[deserter]]s who are willing to help them by selling them a fleet of luxury cars stolen from Kuwait. With these cars they go to the [[military base]] to save Sergeant Barlow, and scare away most of its defenders by spreading the rumor that an enraged Saddam is coming to kill them. After storming the bunker they free Barlow, who spares the life of his [[torture]]r, and more [[Shi'ite]]s held in a [[dungeon]]. Leaving the complex, they are attacked by an armed [[helicopter]], which Elgin destroys by throwing a [[Nerf]] ball rigged with explosives at it. During a shootout with a couple of returning Republican Guards, Sergeant Barlow and Private Vig are shot. Conrad Vig dies, and Barlow, suffering from a [[pneumothorax|punctured lung]], has a needle [[Thoracentesis|placed]] in his chest to allow air to escape.
Gates then makes radio contact with Specialist Wogeman 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 [[Iran]] border, heavily guarded by the Iraqi government forces. After finally reaching the border they are stopped by the American soldiers and arrested. Gates 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. Gates and Elgin now work as military advisers to action films, and Barlow 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.
==Production==
''Three Kings'' was filmed in the deserts of [[Arizona]], [[California]] and [[Mexico]], with many of the extras played by real-life Iraqi [[refugees]]. According to Russell, two of the cast members had "personally defaced 300 [[mural]]s of Saddam."<ref name="Anderson">{{cite news
| last = Jeffery M.
| first = Anderson
| title = The Fourth King
| publisher = Combustible Celluloid
| date = [[September 25]], 1999
| url = http://www.combustiblecelluloid.com/intrussell.shtml
| accessdate = 2006-09-27}}</ref>
After one of the military advisors to the film died during production, Russell said the death was "perhaps due to [[Gulf War syndrome|chemicals he was exposed]] to in the Gulf."<ref name="Anderson"/>
===Script controversy===
Former stand-up comic [[John Ridley]] had originally written the [[screenplay]], then titled ''Spoils of War'', as an experiment to see how fast he could write and sell a movie. The writing took him seven days, and Warner Brothers bought it 18 days later. When the studio showed a list of their purchased scripts to Russell, the one-sentence description of ''Spoils of War'', "heist set in the Gulf War", appealed to him. Although Russell claimed he never read Ridley's script, so as not "to pollute my own idea", he admits that "John gets credit where it's due. The germ of the idea that I took was his."<ref name="Anderson"/>
Ridley maintains that Russell shut him out of the process, saying "I never heard a word while he was shooting the movie. Never saw any of the script changes. And then finally, a year later, I get a copy of the script, and my name isn't even on it."<ref name="Easy Writer">{{cite news
| title = Easy Writer
| publisher = Entertainment Weekly
| date = [[October 8]], 1999
| url = http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,271057_7|8543||0_0_,00.html
| accessdate = 2006-09-27}}</ref> Although Warner Brothers worked out a deal to give Ridley a "story by" credit, Ridley remains unhappy with the experience, and has blocked Russell's efforts to publish the ''Three Kings'' screenplay in book form.<ref name="Easy Writer"/>
===Casting===
Russell penned the script with several actors in mind. Although [[Spike Jonze]] had never acted in a movie before, Russell wrote the part of Conrad Vig specifically for him, and the two practiced Vig's [[Southern American English|southern accent]] over the phone while Jonze directed his first feature film, ''[[Being John Malkovich]]''. Although Russell had to convince a wary Warner Brothers to cast an inexperienced actor in such a large role, he eventually won out. Russell said Jonze's lack of previous acting work was beneficial to the film, citing the "chaos that a nonactor brings to the set...he really shakes things up."<ref name="Wolk2">{{cite news
| last = Wolk
| first = Josh
| title = 'Three' Score
| publisher = Entertainment Weekly
| date = [[October 1]], 1999
| url = http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,84694_1|8543||0_0_,00.html
| accessdate = 2006-09-27}}</ref>
The part of Archie Gates was originally planned for [[Clint Eastwood]], but Russell decided to rewrite it as a younger character. George Clooney eventually saw a copy of the script and was "blown away" by it. When he heard the part was being re-written, he jumped at the chance to get involved. At this point in Clooney's career, he was best known for his role as the handsome Dr. [[Doug Ross]] on the popular television drama ''[[ER (TV series)|ER]]''. Clooney was ready to pursue a role in film. Unfortunately, Russell seemed unwilling to cast Clooney in the role.
Persistent, Clooney sent a humorously self-deprecating letter signed "George Clooney, TV actor" to Russell asking for the part, and showed up at Russell's [[New York City]] apartment to plead his case. Russell still wasn't satisfied that Clooney could portray the character. He instead convinced [[Nicolas Cage]] to play the role. However, when Cage became unavailable after being cast in [[Martin Scorsese]]'s ''[[Bringing Out the Dead]]'', Russell gave the part to Clooney.<ref name = "Wolk2"/> Russell later stated that Clooney "was meant to play the part."<ref name="Sragow">{{cite news
| last = Sragow
| first = Michael
| title = King of ''Kings''
| publisher = Salon.com
| date = [[January 13]], 2000
| url = http://archive.salon.com/ent/col/srag/2000/01/13/orussell/index.html
| accessdate = 2006-09-27}}</ref>
Many of the Iraqi roles were played by real Iraqi refugees in the United States. (Similar technique was used in ''[[The Killing Fields (film)|The Killing Fields]]''.)
[[David O. Russell|Russell]] and [[Mark Wahlberg|Wahlberg]] reunited for the 2004 [[Existentialism|existential]] comedy film, [[I Heart Huckabees]].
===Film techniques===
Much to the chagrin of Warner Brothers, Russell decided to use a number of experimental cinematic techniques in the film. Handheld cameras and [[Steadicam]] shots were used to give the film a [[journalism|journalistic]] feel. In addition, Russell shot the film on [[Ektachrome]] slide photography stock, and used the [[bleach bypass]] process, both to reproduce "the odd color of the newspaper images [of the Gulf War]." Though the process produced a unique quality to the film, it was exceedingly difficult to develop, and many film labs would not provide insurance for the slide films if they did not develop properly. Russell feared that the scenes would need to be reshot until finally a lab was found that could develop the slide films.
Russell also credited the realism of the firefights to the film's [[cinematographer]], [[Newton Thomas Sigel]], who had shot several documentaries on [[South America]]n [[civil war]]s, saying "he knew what it was like to be in that kind of world."<ref name="Sragow"/>
All of the explosions in the movie were filmed in one shot, as opposed to a typical movie where each would have been covered by multiple cameras. Russell explained, "to me that's more real. The car's blowing up on this guy, and we just park the camera. Of course the producer says, 'we gotta run three cameras!' But if I cut three ways, then it just looks like an action picture."<ref name="Anderson"/> Russell also had the [[foley artist|foley department]] tone down the sounds of gunfire, saying he didn't want to "[[Bruce Willis]]-ize" the film."<ref name="Anderson"/>
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:THREE-KINGS-internal-camera-lungs.png|thumb|right|250px|The internal camera being used to show Barlow's chest filling with air.]] -->
One frequently noted shot in the film is an image of a bullet piercing a number of internal organs, releasing [[bile]] into the [[abdominal cavity]], used when Gates is describing [[sepsis]] as the effect of a [[gunshot wound]]. This internal camera is again used when Sgt. Barlow is shot in the [[torso]] and his chest begins to fill with air, crushing his [[lung]]. Both of these scenes were inspired by Russell asking an [[emergency room]] [[medical doctor|doctor]] friend "What's the weirdest wound you've ever seen?"<ref name="Anderson"/> It also erupted a minor controversy, when Russell began to joke around that the gunshots were fired into a real corpse; a statement everyone vehemently denied later.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/459676.stm BBC News | Entertainment | Clooney corpse report denied<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
{{POV-check|date=December 2007}}
===Conflict===
The production process of ''Three Kings'' was particularly difficult for Russell, who was taking a variety of risks with what was a $42 million studio film. At the time it was made, Warner Brothers had not financed an [[auteur]] film in many years and executives were hesitant to put such money in the hands of filmmakers who were used to working independently. The political overtones of the film also worried the studio, especially with conflict still apparent in the Middle East.<ref name="Waxman">{{cite book
| last = Waxman
| first = Sharon
| authorlink = Sharon Waxman
| title = Rebels on the Backlot
| publisher = [[HarperCollins]]
| year = 2005
| doi =
| id = ISBN 0-06-054017-6 }}</ref>
As a result, Warner Brothers gave Russell a number of limitations. The shooting schedule was reduced to only 68 days instead of the 80 Russell had initially asked for.<ref name="Nashawaty">{{cite news
| last = Nashawaty
| first = Chris
| title = Three the Hard Way
| publisher = Entertainment Weekly
| date = [[October 8]], 1999
| url = http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,270997_1|8543||0_0_,00.html
| accessdate = 2006-09-28}}</ref> The studio wanted the budget to be lowered to $35 million. Executives were also constantly urging the removal of more violent scenes, such as the exploding cow and the shooting of an Iraqi woman. Russell was also forced to sign a legal document requiring that scenes containing pedophilia accusations against Michael Jackson be removed from the film.<ref name="Waxman"/> The pressure of delivering the film began to become evident in Russell.
The shoot took place in Arizona during October and proved to be grueling. The crew were unused to the improvisational, on-the-fly directing style that Russell implemented. Rather than preparing organized shot lists, Russell preferred to use ideas as they came to him, often demanding longer hours. Early on, much of the crew began to feel a dislike for these methods and Russell along with them.<ref name="Waxman"/> Clooney noted that "there's an element of David that was in way over his head... he was vulnerable and selfish, and it would manifest itself in a lot of yelling." When Russell's frustration would lead to outbursts, Clooney would take it upon himself to defend crew members and extras, leading to increased tensions.<ref name ="Waxman"/>
When an [[extra (actor)|extra]] had an epileptic seizure on set, Clooney ran to his aid while Russell apparently remained indifferent to the matter. Afterward, Clooney scolded Russell for ignoring the incident, though Russell later stated that he was busy setting up a shot some yards away from the extra and wasn't aware that the extra had suffered a seizure.<ref name="Waxman"/>
Another on-set conflict between the two arose while shooting footage on a Humvee with a camera mounted to it. Clooney recalls Russell yelling at the driver to drive faster. Clooney then approached the director, telling him to "knock it off".<ref name="Waxman"/> Russell remembers the incident differently: "The camera broke, we were losing the day and I was upset about that. So I jumped off the truck and I was like, 'Fuck!' I was just kicking the dirt and everything like that. And then George had this big thing about defending the driver, whom I hadn't really said anything to."<ref name="Waxman"/>
Also during the shoot, Clooney was understandably exhausted as he was still shooting ''ER'' in Los Angeles three days a week, working on ''Three Kings'' the other four.<ref name="Waxman"/> He had even more difficulty with the amount of improv the film required. Regardless, Clooney was determined to stay with the role. Loyal to the script, Clooney helped convince executives to support certain aspects of the film (such as the exploding cow scene) even after he was urged to drop out of production, as his contract called for his compensation with or without his decision to stay in the film.
====Russell and Clooney fight during filming====
After a number of arguments, Clooney wrote Russell a letter that harshly criticized Russell's behavior in a last attempt to make peace between the two, days before their biggest fight would break out during the filming of the movie's finale. In it, the three lead characters attempt to escort Iraqi rebels across the border to Iran. There were a number of actors and extras in the scene, as well as other crucial elements, such as helicopters flying overhead and landing in the center of the location.
The fight began after an extra was having difficulty throwing Ice Cube's character to the ground. After a number of takes, Russell came to the extra and put him through the motions of the action. Some individuals present on the set during the incident state that Russell was simply showing the extra how to convincingly act in the scene. However, Clooney and others thought that Russell had violently thrown the extra to the ground. Clooney recalls: "We were trying to get a shot and then he went berserk. He went nuts on an extra."<ref name="Nashawaty"/> Clooney approached a frustrated Russell and began scolding him again, coming to the extra's defense. The two began shouting at one another before entering a physical fight. Second assistant director Paul Bernard was so fed up with the experience when the fight broke out that he put down his camera and walked off the set, effectively quitting.<ref name="Waxman"/>
Clooney concludes, "Will I work with David ever again? Absolutely not. Never. Do I think he's tremendously talented and do I think he should be nominated for Oscars? Yeah." Russell offered a different view, saying "we're both passionate guys who are the two biggest authorities on the set," and maintaining that the two continue to be friends. Ice Cube felt the conflict helped the movie, saying "it kind of kicked the set into a different gear where everybody was focused and we finished strong. I wouldn't mind if the director and the star got into an argument on all of my movies."<ref name="Nashawaty"/>
Though the fight was initially kept under wraps, both Russell and Clooney eventually gave official statements saying that the argument had blown over and neither harbored any ill will towards one another. However, Clooney continued to describe the event in later interviews, as well as the cover story of the October 2003 issue of ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' magazine, in which he states: "I would not stand for him humiliating and yelling and screaming at crew members, who weren't allowed to defend themselves. I don't believe in it and it makes me crazy. So my job was then to humiliate the people who were doing the humiliating."
Executive producer and production manager Gregory Goodman later stated about Clooney's comments in the media, "It doesn't reflect well on [Clooney]. It's like some stupid sandbox quarrel."<ref name="Waxman"/>
===Hijinks===
Clooney, who has been known as a [[prank]]ster on the set of his movies, had a memorable run-in on set with co-star Nora Dunn. Clooney was standing atop a [[Humvee]] before shooting began when Dunn began heckling him from {{convert|25|ft|m}} away. Clooney yelled "You watch it because I'll hit you. I'm not scared of hitting women!", to which Dunn replied "Come on, man!" Hearing this, Clooney impaled an apple on the antenna of the vehicle, then [[catapult]]ed it towards Dunn, hitting her in the forehead. Although Dunn claimed Clooney almost knocked her out, he responded "I come from [[Kentucky]], where we would have snowball fights, and when you smack somebody in the head really good, it's the greatest sound and the greatest feeling, and you never consider the fact that it's gotta hurt like hell. And then later, because they're crying, you go, 'Oh... I'm so sorry.'" Clooney noted that the one cast member he avoided playing tricks on was Ice Cube, saying "Cube's not gonna take it. He doesn't have to. He's from [[South Los Angeles|South Central]]."<ref name="Wolk">{{cite news
| last = Wolk
| first = Josh
| title = Fight Club
| publisher = Entertainment Weekly
| date = [[October 13]], 1999
| url = http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,270997_1|8543||0_0_,00.html
| accessdate = 2006-09-28}}</ref>
==Cast==
*'''[[George Clooney]]''' as '''Major Archie Gates''', a career [[United States Army Special Forces|Special Forces]] soldier close to [[retirement]], who is disillusioned with the war.
*'''[[Mark Wahlberg]]''' as '''Sergeant First Class Troy Barlow''', who works in an office back in the United States and has a wife and baby daughter at home.
*'''[[Ice Cube]]''' as '''Staff Sergeant Chief Elgin''', an airline baggage handler who believes he is protected by a ring of "Jesus-fire".
*'''[[Spike Jonze]]''' as '''Private First Class Conrad Vig''' a jobless, semi-literate, [[Redneck (stereotype)|redneck]] from a group home who looks up to SFC. Barlow.
*'''[[Cliff Curtis]]''' as '''Amir Abdullah''' a Shi'ite Iraqi rebel who has been captured by Hussein's troops. Educated in the US at [[Bowling Green State University]] he was an entrepreneur in Baghdad, running several cafes before they were destroyed by Coalition bombs.
*'''[[Nora Dunn]]''' as '''Adriana Cruz''', a tough cable news correspondent who is determined to get a good story.
*'''[[Jamie Kennedy]]''' as '''Specialist Walter Wogaman''', an unintelligent soldier who Gates uses to distract Cruz.
*'''[[Saïd Taghmaoui]]''' as '''Captain Said''', an Iraqi interrogator who tortures Barlow with [[electric shock]]s after he is captured.
*'''[[Mykelti Williamson]]''' as '''Colonel Ron Horn''', Gates' superior officer, who discovers the plan to steal the gold.
*'''[[Holt McCallany]]''' as '''Captain Doug Van Meter''', Barlow's superior officer, an obstreperous stickler for the rules who claims he grew up wanting to be either a [[veterinarian]] or a [[CIA]] [[sharpshooter]].
*'''[[Judy Greer]]''' as '''Cathy Daitch''', a journalist competing with Cruz who has [[sex]] with Gates early in the film.
*'''[[Liz Stauber]]''' as '''Debbie Barlow''', Troy's wife.
==Real life parallel==
Many of the events in the film bear some resemblance to [[1991 uprisings in Iraq|the uprising]], or 'intifadha', in Southern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf war.
During the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] several U.S. troops were caught attempting to steal millions of dollars in [[U.S. currency]] from a [[Baath party|Baathist]] cache in [[Baghdad]].
On [[April 18]], [[2003]], Staff Sergeant Matt Novak, a decorated 12-year Army veteran, discovered $200 million in American hundred dollar bills hidden in 50 metal boxes in a cement shed. Novak, accompanied by Spc. Jamal Mann and First Sgt. Eric Wilson, began to divide up the money, stuffing some in their pockets and hiding more in a nearby palm tree. The men also sunk some of the boxes in a nearby canal, planning to come back with [[scuba set|scuba]] gear to recover it. When their commanding officer, Major Kent Rideout, appeared on the scene, he immediately discovered the money hidden in the tree, and began to investigate the case. After [[amnesty]] was offered, the men began talking and the money was recovered. Although Mann had mailed $10,000 to his wife in [[New Jersey]], that money was eventually returned as well.
Novak, whom the army had determined was the ringleader, was [[dishonorable discharge|dishonorably discharged]]. The others were punished more lightly: Wilson remained in the Army teaching [[ROTC]], and Mann received an [[honorable discharge]].<ref name="Mabrey">{{cite news
| last = Mabrey
| first = Vicki
| title = Show Me The Money
| publisher = 60 Minutes II
| date = [[April 27]], 2005
| url = http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/25/60II/main690763.shtml
| accessdate = 2006-09-27}}</ref> Novak later claimed his friends had nicknamed him "Clooney".<ref name="Waxman">{{cite news
| last = Waxman
| first = Sharon
| title = Three Kings, documentary linked
| publisher = New York Times
| date = [[August 18]], 2004
| url = http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040818/news_1c18document.html
| accessdate = 2006-09-26}}</ref>
==Re-release==
[[Image:Three Kings movie.jpg|thumb|175px|DVD cover for the film]]
In 2004 Warner Brothers, feeling the film had become relevant again due to the Iraq War, decided to re-release it in theaters and on [[DVD]]. Having no additional footage to add, Russell instead shot ''[[Soldiers Pay]]'', a short [[documentary film|documentary]] about the [[Iraq War]], to accompany the film. Taking its name from [[William Faulkner]]'s first [[novel]] [[Soldiers' Pay (novel)|of the same name]] about an airman's return home in the aftermath of [[World War I]],<ref name="Snipes">{{cite news
| last = Snipes
| first = Stephanie
| title = 'Three Kings' director looks at Iraq war
| publisher = CNN
| date = [[November 1]], 2004
| url = http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/11/01/soldiers.pay/index.html
| accessdate = 2006-09-26}}</ref> Russell said the documentary examined "both sides of the war, people who feel good about the war, who believe in the mission, people who feel bad."<ref name="Waxman"/>
While making the documentary Russell spoke with both Iraqis and U.S. troops, including SSG. Matt Novak, whom Russell tracked down with the help of his brother-in-law, a [[private investigator]].<ref name="Lim">{{cite news
| last = Lim
| first = Dennis
| title = The Unbearable Lightness of Being
| publisher = The Village Voice
| date = [[September 28]], 2004
| url = http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0439,lim,57118,1.html
| accessdate = 2006-09-27}}</ref> Asked how the Iraqis he had interviewed felt about the war, Russell said {{blockquote|Every Iraqi I know is glad that Saddam Hussein is gone. I would completely disagree with [[Michael Moore]] about that. I think it's good that Saddam Hussein is gone. And I think basically the movie takes the position of, is Iraq better off without Saddam? Yes. Is the world better off with this war? Not sure, don't think so.<ref name="Snipes"/>}} Although Russell had planned to release the film before November 2004, hoping to "perhaps make a difference before the election,"<ref name="Waxman"/> Warner Brothers abandoned the project at the last minute, citing "controversy surrounding the documentary, combined with a later-than-expected arrival of the bonus footage".<ref name="Waxman"/> Russell disputed the time-crunch excuse, saying "I think if they really wanted to they could make it happen."<ref name="Waxman"/> Eventually, the documentary was purchased by the [[Independent Film Channel]], where it was aired in its entirety the night before the [[2004 U.S. Presidential Election]].<ref name="Snipes"/>
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==See also==
*[[Politics in fiction]]
==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0120188|title=Three Kings}}
[[Category:1999 films]]
[[Category:American films]]
[[Category:Adventure films]]
[[Category:Arabic-language films]]
[[Category:English-language films]]
[[Category:War films]]
[[Category:Films directed by David O. Russell]]
[[Category:Films shot in Super 35]]
[[Category:Gulf War films]]
[[Category:Heist films]]
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