Delayed Reaction: Three Kings

The Pitch: A Persian Gulf war movie with a comedic edge.

How I Came Into It: The story of how this movie was made is the most interesting thing about it. Namely, director David O' Russell and star George Clooney were constantly fighting on set, and I don't mean bickering. Russell not getting along with an actor is old-hat by now though (See: Lily Tomlin in I Heart Huckabees). There's also the fact that John Ridley's "story by" credit is due to Russell reading a short description of Ridley's screenplay then writing a completely new script from that. That Wikipedia page is way too interesting.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) Russell's movies have great casts and this is no exception. This is the last look at Clooney before he transformed from TV star to king of the universe. Ice Cube gets a rare opportunity to not play the Ice Cube character [in a good movie]. Mark Walhberg too. I spent too much of the movie trying to separate Spike Jonze and Jamie Kennedy's characters in my mind, but that's more on me than anything left unclear in the movie. There's a warped sense of humor to this that I enjoyed.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: This is one of those movies, like In Bruges, that people talk up too much. It's a fine movie, but I think it works better as a surprise or at least not with a lot of expectations. I've never been tuned in to David O'Russell's frequency and this is another case where I come away wondering why this is so lauded. It's fine, not fantastic. Familiar, not unoriginal.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend