The Kingdom is Worth the Price of Admission but It's Far from the Most Entertaining Movie This Year: Movie Review of the Kingdom

Starring Jamie Foxx (Ray, Collateral), Chris Cooper (American Beauty, The Breach), and Jennifer Garner (Elektra), The Kingdom is so well-realized that it's hard not to believe it's a true story. Unfortunately, as actually films go, the movie is not what you might call entertainment.

What is The Kingdom about?

A bomb goes off in the middle east. This is nothing new, of course, but it just so happens that the explosion killed many Americans that were staying in Saudi Arabia. Then a follow-up detonation gets an FBI agent killed.

The FBI are on the case right away. Leading the task force is Ronald Fleury (Foxx). The agent killed in Saudi Arabia happens to be a good friend of Fluery's. Unfortunately in order to get to Saudi Arabia, there are a few political hurdles. Then after black-mailing the Arabian Ambassador, Fluery and a team of three are on a plane.

The team consists of Grant Sykes (Cooper), Janet Mayes (Garner), and Jason Bateman (The Break-Up) plays Adam Leavitt. When they arrive, they're met with very little - if any, respect. Then the rules start piling up. You as an American can't do this, say that, go there, yada, yada. The Saudi Arabians put the FBI agents up in a school gym. This starts to become a problem for the American investigators as they are desperate to solve the crime that got their agent and so many Americans killed.

What they start to understand in the course of their restrained investigation is that the Saudi Arabians were hurt by the bombing(s) too. This opens up a whole new can of worms. Not only are the FBI agents out to kill the people responsible, but now they are out to protect the innocent locals.

My thoughts

There are moments when this movie really shines. There are moments when the actors are delivering some of their finest performances. But then, there are moments when everything seems to stop. You don't stop in the middle of a rip-roaring action sequence to make a statement about the effects of war on local innocents. I can't believe how political this movie gets. Even in the opening credits, we're given an entire history of American involvement in Saudi Arabia. Some of the statements they make about the American need for middle-eastern oil is never fully realized. Why would any writer want to write an action film in a movie that's more like Babel? Of course, this is not a bad movie. For Foxx, The Kingdom is a step up from Miami Vice. For Cooper, this is another fine performance in a career of fine performances. For Garner, The Kingdom is just a step up.

Final note

The Kingdom is worth a gander. You've got solid acting, solid writing and exciting action sequences. The movie will certainly get your pulse racing, but The Kingdom might also distract you as much as it keeps you on the edge of your seat.