After seeing the trailer for months, finally I get a chance to enter The Kingdom. Directed by actor Peter Berg (Cop Land), the film paints itself as a whodunit within the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
When terrorists attack a U.S. compound that houses oil company employees, the FBI covertly sends in agents to investigate. Enter Jamie Foxx (Collateral, Miami Vice) as Agent Ronald Fleury, a man determined to piece together clues on borrowed time. He and his agents must investigate while being kept at bay by the Saudi government, who has its own desired protocol for such matters. Rounding out the unit and the rest of the cast are Jason Bateman (Smokin’ Aces), Jennifer Garner (Elektra), and Chris Cooper (Breach). One thing about these political drama/action movies is that they tend to be nebulous in their storytelling. Not so with The Kingdom, and I appreciated it. The storyline was pretty easy to follow, which was a good thing, most of the time. The only problem with the simplicity of the plot was that it made the investigation almost a little too easy at times. Certain parts of the movie played out like CSI: Saudi Arabia. The unit has mere days to wrap up its investigation and find the culprits responsible for the attack, and it’s a joke that Fleury and company make such significant progress in such a short amount of time, especially after being initially stonewalled by the government. Clues and evidence are miraculously easily to find, and I know this is a movie, but I’m just sayin…in real life we can’t find Bin Laden, and we’re supposed to believe that the nefarious mastermind behind a major terrorist plot can be located in less than a week? LMAO!
Don’t get me wrong, the film was very very good, it just wasn’t perfect – and that’s okay. The Kingdom was fast-paced, interesting, and ends on a very though-provoking note that hopefully will have viewers wondering just how different we Americans are from the so-called terrorists. I urge you to enter The Kingdom.
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