The Kingdom (2007) Movie Information:

The Kingdom (2007) Directed by: Peter Berg The Kingdom (2007) Written by: Matthew Michael Carnahan The Kingdom (2007) Cast: Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jamie Foxx, Jason Bateman, Jeremy Piven

The Kingdom (2007) U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures The Kingdom (2007) U.K. Distributor: UIP

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The Kingdom (2007) Synopsis:

A team of U.S. government agents are sent to investigate a major bombing in the Middle East.

The Kingdom (2007) Movie Review:

With this political thriller, Berg blends rah-rah Top Gun heroics with spiky Bourne-style realism. But the script takes itself far too seriously, and the incoherent action wastes the solid cast.

After a horrific terrorist attack on an American compound in Riyadh, four expert FBI investigators (Foxx, Cooper, Garner and Bateman) get special dispensation to travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Their local liaison officers (Barhom and Suliman) are under instructions to keep them on a very short lead, while an American diplomat (Piven) just wants them to provide some good PR. But they take their job seriously, and are determined to solve the mystery and catch the villain.

The film opens with a whizzy walk through the history of US-Saudi relations, which effectively establishes the delicate balance between the two nations. But this is the only truly interesting theme in a film that otherwise uses the standard plot template of any serial killer or mob-vs-mob thriller. It couldn't be any more formulaic, although at least the predictability, plus that super-slick Hollywood sheen, makes it watchable.

The A-list cast doesn't have much to do besides scowl at the evidence and then run around with guns, dodging bullets and occasionally getting punched by a bad guy. Cooper is the only one who creates a definable character, while Garner should sue for sexual discrimination for her underwritten, overly emotional role. On the other hand, the supporting cast is very good, especially Barhom, who has more back-story than anyone else, and Berdouni, in a small role as the probing, thoughtful Saudi prince in charge of things.

Berg keeps things moving briskly, in fine blockbuster fashion, indulging in lots of handheld camera work and choppy editing. It's a decent impersonation of Paul Greengrass' work in the Bourne movies; although without his clarity of action it's just a lot of noise. Meanwhile, the jingoistic dialog is offensively pretentious, adding a swaggering arrogance to the characters, even in lines that strain for laughs. In the end, it's just another wish-fulfilment fantasy about a world in which the clear-cut villains are evil for evil's sake, and the flawless heroes get them in the end. Frankly, it's films like this that are evil.

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The Kingdom (2007) review written by: Rich Cline