In this case, he's a dejected Special Forces agent who is looking to get something out of the whole Gulf War experience for himself before he retires in a couple of weeks. Hearing about the map, Gates enlists the three in an impromptu meeting, and a plan is quickly hatched to steal gold from Saddam Hussein that Saddam has stolen from the Kuwaitis. But these are invincible American soldiers, and this is the Gulf War, so they plan to drive up to the village the next morning and be back by lunchtime. Meanwhile, Gates sends the nosy reporter on a wild goose chase to get her off the trail. Naturally, things start to go wrong when the group discovers that the gold is hidden in the midst of a bunker used to torture rebels to Saddam's regime.
Gates suddenly becomes less self-serving, and complication upon complication ensues.
The thing that is so likable about Clooney is that, even when he is doubting and confused, he looks so self-assured about it. Russell does a nice job keeping the movie from looking like anything you've seen before. Rather, it looks like a lot of things, all of them entertaining. Scenes are sped up, slowed way down, frozen. Colors are washed up and bleached out.