The slow period for movies lasting from mid-August through early November is usually filled with garbage films and movies that studios are trying to dump and salvage for profit. You usually will not find many opportunities to see a quality movie during this period. That might be changing, however.
Last year’s Best Picture winner at the Oscars, The Departed, was released during the first week of October 2006. This year, The Kingdom hopes to continue the trend of being a hit during an unlikely period, although an Oscar nod might be asking a little too much.
The Kingdom is a politically driven film that starts as a drama and ends with 20 minutes of intense, somewhat graphic action. Directed by Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights), the movie begins when a group of terrorists in Saudi Arabia kills several people, mainly Americans, who are playing a game of softball in broad daylight. As the authorities arrive to the scene, there is a giant explosion also set by the terrorists, that kills nearly all of the authorities on scene.
Having personal connections to one of the victims of the attacks, FBI agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx, Jarhead, Dreamgirls) quickly assembles an elite team to try and catch the perpetrators of these crimes. The team consists of three other FBI agents: Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner, Catch and Release), Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman, TV’s Arrested Development) and Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper, Breach, Syriana).
As the team attempts a thorough crime scene investigation, they run into many problems with the not-so-helpful Saudi government, most of which come from Saudi Colonel Al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom, Paradise Now). The situation worsens as the team gets deeper ino the investigation, and Leavitt is kidnapped.
The rest of the movie is devoted to rescuing Leavitt while trying to take down the terrorists, and the action kicks into high gear.
The Kingdom is a cross-genre movie combining the mystery of crime in a foreign land with a compelling story and adrenaline-pumping action. Foxx gives, arguably, what is his best performance since his Oscar winning role in Ray, while Cooper shines as Agent Sykes (though this sort of movie is familiar territory for him). Garner gives a surprisingly decent performance as well, and Bateman provides comic relief.
The supporting actors do a good job as well, especially Jeremy Piven (TV’s Entourage) who channels Entourage‘s Ari Gold for his role as a man trying to get the FBI team safely out of Saudi Arabia before their mission is completed.
Perhaps the best performance of the movie comes from Ashraf Barhom as Colonel Al-Ghazi. He gives audiences a positive Saudi character who ends up doing as much to complete the team’s mission as any of the FBI agents do. This is especially important because it acts as a counter-balance to the film’s portrayal of the Saudi terrorists instead of showing all Middle Eastern people in a negative light.
Though fictional, audiences would be doing themselves a favor by seeing The Kingdom. It not only sheds light on the relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, but also examines the vast cultural differences between the two countries.
The Kingdom opens nationwide on Sept. 28.
