Review of Three Kings (1999) by Nelson J — 14 Mar 2009
There's a line in Bowfinger in which Eddie Murphy snaps at his agent: "We're trying to make a movie here, not a film!" Three Kings is the kind of product that gives me hope that Hollywood can still make films, and not just movies.
That doesn't mean pretentious, it means that it asks you to think, and not simply be a passive recipient of entertainment, that it poses some difficult questions, and that it takes some extraordinary chances.
The First Gulf War is still held up by many Americans as the one we did right, a clean war in which we were righteous, victorious and heroic. That a major studio, with a major star, would make a movie that allows it to be dirty, that says "we screwed up, badly" is impressive.
That they were able to make a deeply involving story, around wonderfully three-dimensional characters and several sensational action scenes, is downright amazing. This is the kind of movie that rarely gets made.
Spike Jones' performance pushes an already very good movie into 'great' territory. He's simply fantastic. Three Kings is funny, it's exciting, it's difficult, and it contains no easy answers, but it delivers everything I want from a movie -- or a film.
This review of Three Kings (1999) was written by Nelson J on 14 Mar 2009.
Three Kings has generally received very positive reviews.
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