George Clooney by Mark Browning

Author:Mark Browning
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ABC-CLIO
Published: 2012-07-26T16:00:00+00:00

Three Kings (David O. Russell, 1999)

Barlow:

Are we shooting people or what?

David O. Russell’s account of the chaos in the wake of the ceasefire at the end of the 1991 Gulf War places Clooney in the role of Major Archie Gates, leading a band of soldiers to appropriate some of Saddam Hussein’s gold. Clooney found Russell’s methods difficult, like his constant filming, even during rehearsals and meetings, leading to a well-documented confrontation over Russell’s treatment of an extra. Russell was under pressure himself from Warner Brothers, who were concerned at how overtly political the film was becoming, and original writer John Ridley, who was contesting Russell’s scriptwriting credit, but Clooney has yet to work with him again.

Derek Hill states that “the moral choices … are sophisticated, paradoxical and messy in a way that is rare for such a star vehicle,”1 and certainly the initial presentation of the U.S. military is hardly flattering. Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg) approaches a figure standing on the roof of a house, representing the dilemma of any soldier in armed combat. His colleagues barely seem prepared for such decisions: there are two whip pans to other soldiers, standing in open sight, one trying to remove sand from the eye of another. The man is at some distance, he does present a weapon, and without the benefit of combat experience, Barlow’s mistake in firing is perhaps understandable. Less sensitive, his fellow soldiers, represented by Conrad Vig (Spike Jonze), take pictures and congratulate him for having shot “a raghead.” The men seem ill-prepared and ignorant of the political and military situation.

The scenes of celebration at the end of the war, represented by the pumping iron, lazing on huge air mats, the water fights, the posing with guns and flags for photos, and the presence of Snap’s “The Power,” all seem like a fraternity house party, disconnected from any notion of suffering. The camera whips past a group of prisoners, representing a reality that these soldiers, and we the viewers, must soon face. At this stage, Barlow is happy to dress up as an Arab: for him, it is just a form of fancy dress. It is a sequence of joyful, albeit insensitive, male bonding and a nod to Wahlberg’s dance moves that are shown more fully in Boogie Nights (Paul Thomas Anderson, 1997). Reporter Adriana Cruz (Nora Dunn) is trying to put a more articulate spin on what she is witnessing, describing how the war was about “exorcising Vietnam with a clear moral imperative,” but an interviewee answers more bluntly, “We liberated Kuwait.” Cruz, as an experienced journalist, is looking for a story, searching for meaning in what she sees but there is the suggestion that such meaning is absent here.

The main characters are introduced via freeze frame and a brief piece of on-screen text that appears as if typed. Vig, inexpertly performing karate moves, “wants to be Troy Barlow.” His admiration, bordering on hero worship, is his prime characteristic, along with his blind stupidity, both of which contribute to his death later, running to help his friend.

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