The Kingdom (2007)
Directed by Peter Berg
Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan
Starring Jennifer Garner, Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman, Jeremy Piven, Richard Jenkins
Release Date September 28th, 2007
Published September 27th, 2007
The trailer for Peter Berg's The Kingdom promises much more than the film delivers. Watching the trailer you expect big action, political intrigue and some mystery. What you really get in The Kingdom is CSI: Saudi Arabia. The first two acts of The Kingdom play out with the precision of your average episode of Jerry Bruckheimer's cop science show. The last third of The Kingdom however becomes something close to what was promised. The third act of this foreign set thriller becomes such a rousing action piece that I can forgive much of the dull imitation of a TV cop show that is the first two acts.
In Riyadh Saudi Arabia there is a strip of land where hundreds of American oil workers have recreated America on Saudi soil. It is here that that the terrorsts of the new thriller The Kingdom strike and kill more than 100 Americans and several of their Saudi protectors. Also killed in this attack are a pair of American FBI agents.
After some political maneuvering the FBI's Evidence Response Team leader Ronald Fleury gets his team, including Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner), Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman) and Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper), on the ground in the kingdom, as Saudi Arabia is called in private. They are not welcome as their Saudi Arabian police bodyguard Col. Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom) explains and American diplomat Jim Schmidt (Jeremy Piven) underlnes.
The teams goal is to find the weapons used in the attack, link them to a specific terrorist and kill him. That it plays out quite that simply is both a virtue and a curse for this interesting but not entirely satisfying thriller. Directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Rundown), The Kingdom attempts to be a mystery, a forensic thriller and an action movie and only succeeds at one, and then only in the final act of the movie.
The last third of the film is an extended action sequence involving the capture and near beheading of one of our heroes and his friends' desperate, violent attempts to rescue him. These scenes are expertly captured by Berg's handheld, whip pan camera and in Matthew Michael Carnahan's hard boiled, tight lipped dialogue.
The striking moment, and the films most true, comes as Foxx's Fleury and his Saudi counterpart kick down the door of a potential terrorist. Just before the action kicks in, Foxx asks casually but with some urgent good humor, which side of the door Allah was on. The Saudi's matter of fact response "We'll see" feels real, it sounds like a part of a story that someone might tell over beers after surviving it. It's the most authentic moment in the movie.
Solemn with bursts of awkward wit, the script by Matthew Michael Carnahan fails to give weight to the picture beyond the obvious dangers of the mission. Attempts at politics are fumbled miserably as scenes involving Richard Jenkins as the head of the FBI and Danny Huston as the Attorney General happen without context or consequence. Two fine actors are wasted in a subplot that never develops, in an attempt to bring political weight where none exists.
So just what is the political perspective of The Kingdom? There really isnt any. The film makes passing references to 9/11, Osama Bin Laden, and the war in Iraq. However, the politicians of The Kingdom are fictional as is the films terrorist attack which is loosely based on the 1997 Khobar Towers bombing and the struggles of the FBI in conflict with the Saudis and our own government, but it takes place in a modern context.
The films allusions of depth come not from politics or a subtext of war criticism or the futility of terrorism but rather more facile references to how Americans and Saudis and even terrorists are all just people with families to protect and care for. Thus why we have a few uncomfortable scenes where Jamie Foxx is established as a loving doting dad, scenes where his Saudi counterpart Col. Al Ghazi is seen caring for his two sons and even a scene of a terrorist comforting and teaching his young son about Jihad and American imperialism.
The family scenes feel like a fratboy's attempt at being deep and meaningful and Berg has always carried that fratboy air about him. Writer Matthew Michael Carnahan too has that air of fratboy toughness without thought, sensitivity only in the broadest strokes. In the end it is that fratboy sensibility that makes them terrific with crafting visceral action scenes but at a loss to tell us what it all means or give us anything deeper than 'everyone has a daddy'.
The Kingdom is a deeply flawed action picture that succeeds because its creators are skilled in the art of action and at holding a surface of professionalism. The film always looks good, keeps a good pace, even at 2 hours plus, and it certainly feels like it should be important. Unfortunately, there isn't much beneath the surface of The Kingdom.
A kickass third act is what recommends The Kingdom. If you go in with lowered expectations, lower than the Oscar nominatable expectations I had from that killer trailer, and you may find yourself enjoying The Kingdom.
