Films Directed by David O. Russell (Study Guide) - Flirting with Disaster, Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, Spanking the Monkey, Soldiers Pay (Paperback)

This is nonfiction commentary. Chapters: Flirting With Disaster, Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, Spanking the Monkey, Soldiers Pay. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 33. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Three Kings is a 1999 satirical war 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." 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. Three Kings revolves around four U.S. soldiers attempting to steal seized Kuwaiti gold bullion from 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. The film opens with Army Reserve 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, ...http: //booksllc.net/?id=192461