"Kingdom" action

It's been nearly three months since I saw Peter Berg's The Kingdom (Universal, 9.28), and some of the details have faded. But I remember the fundamentals. It's basically C.S.I Riyadh with a slowish first two acts and then a wowser third-act shootout -- a team of FBI guys and a few Saudi cops blowing away several terrorists (a couple of dozen, at least) who were behind the bombing of an American compound and the deaths of several Americans early on. Crazy-ass towelheads...get 'em!


It's good material in a keep-it-simple, shoot-the-bad-guys way. Which is what audiences want, right? Millions have made a point of avoiding dramas that have taken earnest, realistic approaches to the Middle Eastern conflict (A Mighty Heart, In The Valley of Elah), and are likely to continue doing so. Leave us alone! Not entertaining! Too gloomy!

Well, they can rest easy this time. The Kingdom is mindful of present-day political currents as well as the history of the region, but the story is relatively straightfor- ward, uncomplicated and non-lamenting. No guilt trips, no left-wing directors or screenwriters telling auds what a tragedy the Iraq War has been for everyone... none of that messy stuff.

The problem is that most of The Kingdom is about how bogged down everything gets when this FBI team, based in Washington, D.C. and led by Jamie Foxx with backup from Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman, tries to go Riyahd in the first place to investigate the blast.

Roadblock this, impediment that...it just goes on and on. It's a hassle getting diplomatic permission to fly over there. And then it's a political Gordian knot trying to circumvent the Saudi Arabian authorities, led by Col. Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), who initially keep the team from gathering fresh, first-hand evidence.

In short, you have to slog through the first and second acts to get to the rousing third. The finale is worth it, and the depiction of the bombing at the very beginning is well -handled. You just have to grapple with the slow stuff for 60 or 70 minutes. The film lasts 110 minutes, the opening credits and the explosive opener eat up 10 or 15 minutes and the big finale (hot and heavy shootout on a highway, big shoot- out in an apartment complex) goes on for maybe 15 or 20 minutes...maybe a bit longer.

I don't want to put The Kingdom down too strongly. Berg's Friday Night Lights was a better film, but you can't say the newbie isn't a decent time-passer. And if you can get into the adrenalized excitement of blowing away wild-eyed, wack-job terrorists in the same way it's fun to shoot at empty beer cans in your back yard with a pellet gun, so much the better.


I don't know why Garner is on the team in the first place. Aren't Middle Easterners basically patriarchal and sexist? Why would an FBI team want to complicate matters by bringing in a woman on top of everything else? She spends an awful lot of energy, in any case, showing womanly emotion whenever anyone gets hurt or any time things get hairy. Who needs a partner on the team whose eyes are always getting moist? Whatever happened to the spirit of Sigourney Weaver in Aliens? Suck it in, get hard, kill the enemy...end of story.

And I don't know why Jeremy Piven plays the American ambassador to Riyadh -- he's basically giving us a diplomatic Ari Gold with gray hair.

Foxx delivers an okay phone-in hard-guy performance. Cooper does his usual crusty contentious moves. Barhom handles himself well. Let's just not get carried away here. The Kingdom's all right, but you need to try and keep things in proportion when you're putting your thoughts to print.

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on September 23, 2007 at 12:38 PM

comment #1

jimjonesiii Author Profile Page says ...

and it`ll make a lot of money.

Posted by jimjonesiii Author Profile Page at September 23, 2007 4:49 PM

comment #2

Devin Faraci Author Profile Page says ...

I thought it was a rather great smart action film, and the 'boring stuff' you're talking about is part of why I liked it so much - the West and the Middle East cannot find a way to communicate properly. That's what the movie's about.

Posted by Devin Faraci Author Profile Page at September 23, 2007 5:16 PM

comment #3

Ogami Itto Author Profile Page says ...

"I thought it was a rather great smart action film, and the 'boring stuff' you're talking about is part of why I liked it so much - the West and the Middle East cannot find a way to communicate properly. That's what the movie's about."

Well said.

Yeah, it's too bad the filmmakers didn't spend more time telling the audience WHAT THEY ALREADY FUCKING KNOW ABOUT THE IRAQ WAR (i.e., it's a complete clusterfuck), otherwise Wells probably would've loved the movie.

Posted by Ogami Itto Author Profile Page at September 23, 2007 5:36 PM

comment #4

actionman Author Profile Page says ...

I agree with Faraci on this. THE KINGDOM is easily the tightest, smartest R-rated action films in quite some time. I hold it up to THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (a film I loved) in that it's a believeable, smart, and extremely stylish action film that never lets up. I am not sure what all of the "boring middle" stuff is that Wells is talking about, on the contrary. That was what made it so fascinting. I never knew about all of the legal hassles that would go into a US investigation like this in Saudi Arabia. The political stuff was handled very efficiently, and as Wells has mentioned, the action sequences are incredible. Live-wire shit. It has the tough, gritty sensibility of a movie like MUNICH which I really appreciated. None of this bull shit pg-13 gun battle shit. Anyways, I loved FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHT and I loved THE KINGDOM either more. Peter Berg is on a roll.

Posted by actionman Author Profile Page at September 23, 2007 6:27 PM

comment #5

actionman Author Profile Page says ...

but as much as I loved the film, I don't think it's going to make enough money at the box office to truly qualify as a "hit." I think there's a domestic BO cap to these movies (THE KINGDOM being at the high end); I predict $50-65 million domestic.

Posted by actionman Author Profile Page at September 23, 2007 6:29 PM

comment #6

malibugigolo Author Profile Page says ...


"Smart" is what "compelling" was to reviews in the late 90's early 00's and "convincing" was in the 80's.

That is, a signifier that the movie/book in question is reactionary liberal with its politics, glib with its humor, and generally nihilistic with its ideology.

I always avoid such movies. So OBVIOUS.
Yawn.

Posted by malibugigolo Author Profile Page at September 23, 2007 7:24 PM

comment #7

Burbanked Author Profile Page says ...

Interesting point about Jennifer Garner. I haven't seen the movie, but THE KINGDOM's trailer has at least three shots of Garner wincing when she sees video of someone blowing up or has to fire her weapon. I just figured that her character was a token Hollywood rookie character in the movie - and therefore destined for a third-act 1) death or 2) act of cowardice, followed by violent redemption.

But if she's a hardcore agent like the rest of the team, then her "womanly" reactions truly don't make much sense.

Posted by Burbanked Author Profile Page at September 23, 2007 7:45 PM

comment #8

lipranzer Author Profile Page says ...

""Smart" is what "compelling" was to reviews in the late 90's early 00's and "convincing" was in the 80's.

That is, a signifier that the movie/book in question is reactionary liberal with its politics, glib with its humor, and generally nihilistic with its ideology.

I always avoid such movies. So OBVIOUS.
Yawn."

Cause FIRST BLOOD, MISSING IN ACTION, and the like are models of subtlety?

Posted by lipranzer Author Profile Page at September 23, 2007 7:55 PM

comment #9

malibugigolo Author Profile Page says ...

What is First Blood, Missin in Action, that the Walker Texas Ranger guy?
Never seen them.
Should I?

Posted by malibugigolo Author Profile Page at September 23, 2007 8:00 PM

comment #10

BurmaShave Author Profile Page says ...

So it's really RIYADH VICE.

Posted by BurmaShave Author Profile Page at September 23, 2007 8:45 PM

comment #11

Pinko Punko Author Profile Page says ...

Where's the love for THE RUNDOWN?

I would even take a RUNDOWN II:ROCK'S RESTAURANT KITCHEN KARNAGE

Posted by Pinko Punko Author Profile Page at September 23, 2007 9:06 PM

comment #12

le corbeau Author Profile Page says ...

So Tommy Lee Jones mournfully discovering America's bad is serious thoughtful drama, but a realistic depiction of life in another culture is filler that had Wells checking his watch, wondering if he could catch an afternoon show of The 11th Hour.

Posted by le corbeau Author Profile Page at September 24, 2007 6:38 AM

comment #13

frank delsa Author Profile Page says ...

The reactions to this movie are strange. I read heaps of praises on the web, but then I go to Rotten Tomatoes and that actual critics are so far less than impressed, with heavy pans from Variety, Hollywood Reporter and New Yorker, and a positive review from Emmanuel Levy that actually is very close to be a thumb down.
For the record is currently sitting at 44% with 16 reviews.
For the record, I agree with Wells on both Elah and the current trend of moviegoing in America.

Posted by frank delsa Author Profile Page at September 24, 2007 9:03 AM

comment #14

frank delsa Author Profile Page says ...

Too many "for the record". You can delete one. :)

Posted by frank delsa Author Profile Page at September 24, 2007 9:05 AM

comment #15

ZayTonday Author Profile Page says ...

Wells, maybe you saw an earlier cut than I did or something, but this film felt tightly paced to me. The thing I loved about it was that you didn't entirely trust the Saudi police force in the beginning or the cop who acted as the FBI's liaison, but by the end the Saudi cop was basically the hero of the film. The dude who played him needs at least a best supporting actor nom at the Oscars. And Jason Bateman was hilarious in it.

Posted by ZayTonday Author Profile Page at September 24, 2007 2:32 PM

comment #16

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