Rated R 

Directed by Peter Berg

Starring Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman

Heidi’s Illustrious Rating:  3 – Worth the Matinee Price

Word of Warning to you softies out there:  Movie portrays violence in the form of terrorism, some torture and gun violence.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation wants to conduct an on-site investigation after a terrorist bombing kills over a hundred men, women and children at an American contractor base in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The American government, however, doesn’t want to strain its beneficial relationship with the Saudi Royal Family and won’t allow the FBI team to go.

FBI Agent Fluery (Jamie Foxx) doesn’t take no for an answer.  One of his own agents was killed in the attack and he wants to find the terrorists who were responsible. He secretly assembles a team of top-notch counter-terrorism investigator (Garner, Cooper and Bateman) and flies them to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The team wants to investigate, but is thwarted at every turn by an overly protective police chief, played well by Middle Eastern actor Ashraf Barhoum. They quickly realize their presence is for show only and they will not be allowed to conduct any real investigation. They are, however, in real danger.

This film does not preach, nor does it take any particular political stand on the issues surrounding the Middle East. Director Peter Berg has created an action-movie with themes pulled from modern day headlines. If you’re looking for a political statement, or some sort of resolution to terrorism, you will not find it in this movie. In my opinion, The Kingdom was made to entertain, not necessarily provoke thought. On that note, however, the movie does portray some very bad Muslim/Arabs, making some politically-correct movie reviewers cry foul. Perhaps they didn’t notice the movie also portrays some very good Muslim/Arabs. 

Typical of an action-movie the main characters in The Kingdom are shallow and the viewer feels little connection to any of them. Each character has their specific and formulaic role. Bateman’s character provide comedy relief (Bateman was last known for his role in the award-winning television show, Arrested Development). Garner is there to provide a female character, Cooper plays the fatherly character and Foxx is there to be the bad ass. 

Some of the action sequences were reminiscent of the work of Paul Greengrass in Borne Supremacy. The camera jostles about, showing an arm here or a leg there, a close up of a gun or the back of some unidentifiable person’s head. It can make a viewer already prone to motion sickness a little dizzy. Thankfully, there isn’t an overabundance of this type of filming.

Overall, the movie feels like Blackhawk Down meets CSI: Saudi Arabia. After reading a lot of lukewarm reviews, I hadn’t expected much from The Kingdom, however I found it highly entertaining and worth a matinee price.