March, 1991, the Iraqi desert. Special Forces Captain Archie Gates (GEORGE CLOONEY), U.S. Army Sergeant Troy Barlow (MARK WAHLBERG), Staff Sergeant Chief Elgin (ICE CUBE) and Private Conrad Vig (SPIKE JONZE) have spent weeks marking time in base camp while the Persian Gulf war is fought by high-tech specialists. The impersonality of the war has left the men bored and disoriented and, now that the cease-fire has become official, they’re looking forward to leaving this bleak landscape behind.
Archie Gates is a career soldier, a Green Beret who’s proven his bravery and intelligence in conflicts around the globe, but his experiences have left him cynical, detached and unwilling to take orders from those less seasoned than he is. He’s ready to leave the Army behind, but the undefined civilian existence ahead of him holds only marginally more appeal.
Troy Barlow is young, capable, sincere, and homesick for his wife and baby daughter back in Detroit. An Army Reserve soldier, he believes in the job he was sent to do and he’s proud to be doing it for America.
Chief Elgin is a baggage handler at Detroit Airport when he’s not on active duty. His civilian life offers him little, as does his military life, but his firm Christian beliefs and his stoic commitment to his responsibilities earn him respect.
Conrad Vig is a redneck who never finished high school. For him, the Army offers a chance to live out adventures he’ll embellish back home; he has little understanding of the political implications of the conflict in Iraq, or of the consequences of war. Being out of his element has stimulated Vig to the point where his naivete and excitement are on the verge of becoming an explosive combination.
The soldiers’ lives are complicated by the constant, intrusive presence of television war correspondents, especially the hard-bitten Adriana Cruz (NORA DUNN), who badgers Army personnel incessantly for exclusive information.
As the Americans prepare to dismantle their base camp and return home, Troy, Chief and Conrad unexpectedly come into possession of a map that indicates the location of a stash of Kuwaiti gold bullion stolen by the Iraqi army.
While they puzzle over the map and what it implies for them, Archie Gates learns of their acquisition and takes command of the situation. In his words, "Saddam stole it from the sheiks; I have no problem stealing it from Saddam… Just one stash would be easy to take…and that would be enough to get us out of our day jobs – unless you reservists are in love with your day jobs."
Armed with little more than high expectations, the foursome jumps in a Humvee and launches its own private maneuver. Their plan is to "leave at dawn and be back by lunch."
However, fate plays a trick on these AWOL treasure hunters. Their brief, single-minded foray into Iraqi territory becomes their first face-to-face encounter with the Iraqi people and the complex circumstances of life in a country at war with itself.
One misadventure leads to another, alternating grim reality with surrealistic dark humor, until the four soldiers’ mission changes radically, becoming a journey of discovery and redemption, and an adventure they’ll never forget.
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