David O. Russell

In Three Kings (1999), the soldiers' bickering is as absorbing as their military business. George Clooney supplies authority without making the group's motives respectable; Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze keep the disagreements personal. We enjoyed their company despite ourselves, because the actors make each selfish disagreement funny without making the men admirable. Russell is good at getting a group to misbehave without allowing its members to blur together.

His first features, Spanking the Monkey (1994) and Flirting with Disaster (1996), were independent films; Three Kings brought wider recognition. After I Heart Huckabees (2004) came a quieter stretch, before The Fighter (2010) returned him to critical prominence. The ensembles of Silver Linings Playbook (2012) and American Hustle (2013) continued that return. The recurring interest is in people trying to change their lives, with enough competing personalities to make that difficult. His returning collaborators include actors Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale and Amy Adams.

Three Kings also shows how much that energy owes to collaborators. Cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel makes the fighting exciting, which stops us watching the soldiers' misconduct from a comfortably disapproving distance. Robert K. Lambert's editing keeps the individual men involved in the action, while Catherine Hardwicke's production design makes their surroundings feel inhabited rather than available for looting. Carter Burwell's music is more convincing when sustaining danger than when encouraging sympathy. These are uneasy shifts between comedy and violence, and Russell sometimes moves on before the change has settled.

The weakness is his eagerness to forgive. In Three Kings, affection for the men sometimes softens the scrutiny their behaviour deserves, and the push towards sympathy can feel unnecessary when the actors are already persuasive. That does not undo the pleasure of watching them quarrel or the force of the action. It does make us wary when Russell starts asking for warmth rather than letting the performances earn it. We recommend Three Kings, with a little less indulgence for its soldiers than Russell allows himself.