Universal Pictures'

The Kingdom

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Colin Farrell, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman, Tom Bresnahan

Directed by: Peter Berg

RS: 3of 4 Stars Average User Rating: 3of 4 Stars

2007 Universal Pictures All Movies

A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down. But that's the only hint of Mary Poppins you'll find in Peter Berg's geopolitical thriller, with an emphasis on the thrills. The sugar for Berg, a genuine wild man, is action, and he heaps it on as FBI special agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx at his cool, mofo best) leads his team into Saudi Arabia to find the culprits behind a terrorist attack on a compound housing American oil-company employees and their families. The Saudi ambassador has given them only five days to investigate, and a U.S. diplomat (Jeremy Piven) would rather they just do a photo op and slink out. But Fleury is not one for slinking. With the help of an explosives expert (a forceful Chris Cooper), an intelligence analyst (Jason Bateman, nailing all of his smart-mouthed one-liners) and a forensics whiz (Jennifer Garner, never mind the sexy, she means business), Fleury goes John Wayne on their ass. Berg (Friday Night Lights) stages every ambush, gun battle and car chase as if his life depends on it. The Kingdom could have been a jingoistic CSI: Riyadh, and sometimes it is. Matthew Michael Carnahan's caffeinated script isn't much concerned with balance, but it gets some anyway, from the resonant images of culture clash that Berg catches on the fly and a remarkable performance from Ashraf Barhom, whose ravaged, sorrowful face as the Saudi police chief Al-Ghazi is a human map of the complex issues at stake.

PETER TRAVERS

(Posted: Oct 4, 2007)

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The Kingdom

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3of 4 Stars

The Kingdom starts off with a very tense and literally explosive opening. From there it slows to a creep, and continues to gather speed, but at a rather slow pace. It gathers steam as the American heros head to the Middle East and slowly are granted access to the crime scene and the surrounding area. The only thing that kept my interest was Jason Bateman's smart-mouthed one-liner spouting character. On that note, the talent assembled is great; all the actors are impressive and believable. Although, Jermey Piven is growing tired; always playing the same character no matter the situation. Chris Cooper looks like he was bred to play these types of characters, while Jennifer Garner and Jamie Foxx act well, but don't do anything particularly note-worthy. The radio spot played for the film was dead-on in stating Do Not miss the last half hour. All of the sudden the film returns to an explosive pace. Suddenly the film feels like a FPS (First Person Shooter) game although it maintains the third person camera. Enemies are being riddled with bullets while the American heros, except for Bateman, narrowly escape danger with barely a scuff on their boots. The action is incredibly constructed, it looks incredibly chaotic and creates a strong feeling of tension. However, the actors, while very talented, are too big of stars to actually learn their characters' names until reading about it later. Also, the fact that the American FBI Agents are invincible is something that movies are really failing to break away from; it would be nice to see some human vulnerability. The ending's attempt to be circular and socially significant feels way too forced to have an impact. Over all, this was a good film, but when it comes down to it; this was a shoot-em up film masked as a social commentation. "The best film of the year so far, by far," not quite. It is already October, and it is a little late to be the first big film of the year. I recommend seeing it; The Kingdom is fun and tense. I also recommend a Director's Cut never surfaces because it is almost too long as is.

Andrew McGuire

Oct 2, 2007 11:52:31

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