the kingdom 2007 movie review

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The Kingdom

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What to Know

While providing several top-notch action scenes, The Kingdom ultimately collapses under the weight of formula and muddled politics.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Ronald Fleury

Chris Cooper

Grant Sykes

Jennifer Garner

Janet Mayes

Jason Bateman

Adam Leavitt

Ashraf Barhom

Col. Faris Al-Ghazi

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Movie Review | 'The Kingdom'

F.B.I. Agents Solve the Terrorist Problem

By A.O. Scott

• Sept. 28, 2007

What good is geopolitical turmoil if you can’t have some fun with it? Hollywood has been posing that rhetorical question for a long time now — from “Ninotchka” to “Rambo” by way of a battalion of World War II combat pictures — but it has so far been a bit squeamish about turning the various post-9/11 conflicts into grist for escapist entertainment.

“The Kingdom,” a whodunit/blow-’em-up directed by Peter Berg, corrects this lapse by taking aim at the ethical nuances and ideological contradictions of the war on terror and blasting away.

Mr. Berg, an actor whose directing skills improve with each project (his last for the big screen was the underrated “Friday Night Lights”), shows himself adept at the rapid cutting and hectic camerawork that are fast becoming the lingua franca of action filmmaking.

“The Kingdom” takes the breathless visual precision of the Jason Bourne movies — what the film scholar David Bordwell calls “intensive continuity” — out of the abstract hall-of-mirrors universe of intra-C.I.A. skulduggery and into a semiplausible world of international tension. Rather than explore that tension, as some other, more ostentatiously serious movies coming out shortly seem poised to do, Mr. Berg and Matthew Michael Carnahan, the screenwriter, do what they can to relieve it with fireballs and frantic chases. The result is a slick, brutishly effective genre movie: “Syriana” for dummies.

Which is not entirely a put-down. Intricate, earnest puzzles have their place in the movie cosmos, but so do lean, linear stories with clearly defined villains and heroes and lots of explosions.

The members of the cast, which includes two recent Academy Award winners (Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper), do not trouble themselves exploring the finer points of their craft, but their unpretentious professionalism is nonetheless satisfying to watch. Mr. Foxx does most of his acting with the muscles in his jaw and his upper arm, delivering terse dialogue in a silky whisper. Mr. Cooper punches the folksiness buttons as a forensics expert whose aw-shucks manner masks a steel-trap mind. Jason Bateman is the class clown, and Jennifer Garner, no slouch in the jaw-flexing department, also exercises her tear ducts and her trigger finger.

The four of them play F.B.I. investigators who travel to Saudi Arabia (the kingdom of the title) to investigate a horrific double terrorist attack on American oil company workers and their families. The team’s trip is opposed by the State Department and the lily-livered attorney general (Danny Huston), who don’t want to antagonize an important ally. Backed up by their no-nonsense boss (Richard Jenkins), the Forensic Four nonetheless head to Riyadh.

Their motives are personal as well as professional, since one of their colleagues was killed in the attacks. Their presence is barely tolerated by the Saudi authorities, many of whom are either incompetent or in cahoots with the jihadis. Meanwhile, Jeremy Piven shows up as an embassy flunky whose job is to prevent Special Agent Fleury (Mr. Foxx) and his colleagues from doing theirs.

But Fleury recognizes a fellow good cop in the person of Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), a Saudi colonel who helps the Americans both before and after the bullets and rocket-propelled grenades start flying. Once they do, the good guys are in the familiar, physically perilous but morally gratifying position of being outmanned and outgunned with the cavalry nowhere in sight.

“I’m not saying America is perfect,” Fleury says a while before the climactic barrage, “but we’re pretty good at this.” If by “this” he means making high-impact action movies, it’s hard to argue. And “The Kingdom,” hair-raising as it is, is also curiously soothing in its depiction of American competence and righteousness.

Just as “Rambo” offered the fantasy of do-over on Vietnam, “The Kingdom” can be seen as a wishful revisionist scenario for the American response to Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. In some ways it’s an anti-Iraq movie, not because it expresses opposition to the war there but rather because it makes no mention of it. Instead, the film spins a cathartic counternarrative. After a murderous terrorist attack a few of our best people — four, rather than a few hundred thousand — go over to the country that spawned the terrorists, kill the bad guys and come home. And they even leave the door open for a sequel.

“The Kingdom” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for intense, graphic violence.

THE KINGDOM

Opens today nationwide.

Directed by Peter Berg; written by Matthew Michael Carnahan; director of photography, Mauro Fiore; edited by Kevin Stitt and Colby Parker Jr.; music by Danny Elfman; production designer, Tom Duffield; produced by Michael Mann and Scott Stuber; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 111 minutes.

WITH: Jamie Foxx (Ronald Fleury), Chris Cooper (Grant Sykes), Jennifer Garner (Janet Mayes), Jason Bateman (Adam Leavitt), Jeremy Piven (Damon Schmidt), Danny Huston (Gideon Young), Richard Jenkins (James Grace), Ashraf Barhom (Faris Al Ghazi) and Omar Berdouni (Prince Ahmed Bin Khaled).

Minnesota's Local Source for Film Music and Reviews

Review: The Kingdom (2007)

The kingdom (2007).

Directed by: Peter Berg

Premise: After an American housing facility in Saudi Arabia is bombed, an FBI response team works with Saudi officials to try and find those responsible.

What Works: The Kingdom combines elements of multiple genres, including espionage and political thrillers, police procedurals, and the western to create a hybrid that presents familiar scenarios in ways that are fresh and new. The film moves along briskly and the final act of the story is shot and edited extraordinarily well. The style of the film shows influence of producer Michael Mann, director of Heat and Collateral , but director Berg puts his own stamp on the material, conveying complicated expository information in effective and concise ways. The performances are also very well done, especially Jamie Foxx as team leader Ronald Fleury and Chris Cooper as explosives expert Grant Sykes, but the true standout actor of the film is Ashraf Barhom as Saudi Colonel Faris Al Ghazi. Although the civilian deaths cement the gravity of the story early in the film, the ongoing relationship between Fleury and Al Ghazi sustains the emotional center and gives the film more substance, allowing the westerner and middle easterner to overcome their differences and combine talents to combat terror. This relationship is a microcosm of western—mid-east relations and The Kingdom is able to delve into the subject, addressing some of the complicated issues on the Saudi side and the film admirably attempts to give more texture to the Muslim characters and their culture than is usually afforded to them in a Hollywood film, especially one dealing with terrorism.  

What Doesn’t: For most of the film, The Kingdom only scratches the surface of the issues of terrorism and the consequences of retaliation. The film strives for the kind of complexity featured in Spielberg’s Munich , but the story is so limited in its scope that it is unable to accomplish that.

Bottom Line: The Kingdom is an exceptional film. Its action scenes are on par with the best action elements of the genre and the substance of the film gives the audiences more to chew on than other films of its kind. Although it cannot reach the heights of Munich , it certainly comes close and at least equals films like Clear and Present Danger .

Episode: #160 (October 8, 2007)

The Kingdom

Where to Watch

Jamie Foxx (Ronald Fleury) Chris Cooper (Grant Sykes) Jennifer Garner (Janet Mayes) Jason Bateman (Adam Leavitt) Ashraf Barhom (Colonel Faris Al Ghazi) Ali Suliman (Sergeant Haytham) Jeremy Piven (Damon Schmidt) Richard Jenkins (Robert Grace) Tim McGraw (Aaron Jackson) Kyle Chandler (Francis Manner)

A team of U.S. government agents are sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East.

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More about The Kingdom

With the fight against terrorism indefinitely stalled in Iraq, viewers are probably thirsting for a movie like The …

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The kingdom, common sense media reviewers.

Intense, bloody look at Mid East violence.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The FBI team is stalwart, and the Saudi police col

Opening montage shows archival news footage of war

Brief reference to Janet's T-shirted figure, w

Language includes lots of uses of "f--k"

Images of or references to CNN, Larry King, Washin

A few scenes of a character smoking cigarettes.

Parents need to know that this intense, bloody movie isn't for kids. There are explosions, shootings, hand-to-hand combat, torture, kidnapping, a careening car chase, explicit shots of bloody bodies and body parts, and more. The overall plot and themes are also mature -- terrorism, graphic crime investigation,…

Positive Messages

The FBI team is stalwart, and the Saudi police colonel is noble (tensions between them evolve into friendship and mutual respect). Bombers are relentlessly villainous.

Violence & Scariness

Opening montage shows archival news footage of war and terrorism (including a plane hitting the World Trade Center on 9/11). The early Riyadh attack scene includes explosions; shootings of men in uniforms, civilians, and children (a child watches a man get shot); bloody limbs, torsos, and faces; many bodies falling; and a suicide bomber exploding a grenade. Observers videotape the attack; the footage appears again in the film, and flashbacks show the attack several times. A forensics team examines the bomb crater, including body parts. Tense confrontation leads to a man slapping another. Retired bomb-maker talks about being haunted by "dead faces" and shows his hand, which is missing fingers. Roadside bomb explodes a car. Shoot-out leaves bloody bodies (shown in close-up). Chase scene features cars crashing and frenzied camerawork. Team member is kidnapped, dragged (leaving a bloody trail), tied up, tortured, and very bloody. Team's assault on the kidnappers' hideout involves lots of shooting, chaos, and noise (as well as children as witnesses), and the death of a key character.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Brief reference to Janet's T-shirted figure, which Saudi hosts believe should be covered more completely (Ron says she must "dial down the boobies"). Brief kiss.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes lots of uses of "f--k" (20+), plus "s--t," "bulls--t," "goddamn," "son of a bitch," "lucky bastard," and other phrases ("circle jerk," "you big queer").

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Images of or references to CNN, Larry King, Washington Post , Scrabble, L.L. Bean, Washington Wizards, Kobe Bryant, Rambo, the Hulk, Steve Austin (the Six Million Dollar Man ), and The Pixies (band T-shirt).

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this intense, bloody movie isn't for kids. There are explosions, shootings, hand-to-hand combat, torture, kidnapping, a careening car chase, explicit shots of bloody bodies and body parts, and more. The overall plot and themes are also mature -- terrorism, graphic crime investigation, children at risk and killed, etc. -- and the camerawork is especially chaotic (some viewers may be bothered by its pretty much nonstop movement). Language includes multiple uses of "f--k" (which offends the Saudi police chief) and other profanity. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (2)
• Kids say (3)

Based on 2 parent reviews

Great clean action movie

Powerful, violent mystery-thriller in middle east., what's the story.

After civilians are killed in a post-9/11 terrorist attack in Riyadh, the FBI calls in Special Agent Ron Fleury ( Jamie Foxx ), who quickly assembles crack team -- forensics examiner Janet Mayes ( Jennifer Garner ), explosives technician Grant Sykes ( Chris Cooper ), and intelligence analyst Adam Leavitt ( Jason Bateman ).The team heads to Riyadh, where tensions are high. The Americans bristle at predictable "backwards" thinking from the locals, including efforts to curtail their tough-guy language, conceal Janet's figure, and restrict their access to the crime scene. Ron insists they be allowed to look for evidence, question witnesses, and even go off the compound in order to determine the bombers' identities, though everyone seems to know right away that the head villain is Abu Hamza (Hezi Saddik). To offset the "bad Arab" vibe, the film also includes a very good one, police colonel Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), who inspires Ron to persist. Since the team has only 36 hours to build a case, they work fast and rather ruthlessly, inciting the outrage of local authorities and, apparently, terrorists, who decide to take revenge by exploding cars and kidnapping a team member.

Is It Any Good?

Equal parts action movie, police procedural, and cross-cultural tolerance lesson, THE KINGDOM boasts charismatic stars and a topical focus. But for all its energy and pyrotechnic brilliance, Peter Berg 's new film is strikingly old-fashioned. It didn't have to be this way.

While it's obvious that the team will recover their man, the film underscores his brutal abuse by hooded captors -- just to make sure you know they deserve all bad things coming to them. While the U.S. offensive is supported by the Riyadh police (especially noble Al Ghazi), the focus is on the Americans, who are characterized as fierce, committed, and utterly selfless. Though Ron admits to Al Ghazi that he's aware of his nation's many imperfections, the film seems stuck on this primary points: When push comes to shove, Americans are right.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how violence is portrayed in this movie. Is it realistic or gratuitous? What message is the movie sending about the cycle of violence in the Middle East? Who "wins" in this movie? Families can also discuss how the U.S. FBI team members react to their new environment in Saudi Arabia. Are they respectful or arrogant? How do they get what they want, even when they're supposed to obey local restrictions?

Movie Details

• In theaters : September 27, 2007
• On DVD or streaming : December 26, 2007
• Cast : Chris Cooper , Jamie Foxx , Jennifer Garner
• Director : Peter Berg
• Inclusion Information : Black actors, Female actors
• Studio : Universal Pictures
• Genre : Drama
• Run time : 110 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : intense sequences of graphic brutal violence, and for language.
• Last updated : January 6, 2024

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Eye For Film >> Movies >> The Kingdom (2007) Film Review

The Kingdom

Reviewed by: Jennie Kermode

Not everybody with an interest in political thrillers also has an interest in politics. Not everybody looking for action in the cinema also keeps up with real life violent events around the world. The Kingdom recognises this and opens with a stunningly animated sequence which explains in a simple and elegant fashion the history of US involvement in Saudi Arabia and the political tensions ensuing therefrom. Remarkably neutral in tone, it sets the stage for a thriller which neither takes sides nor tries to preach their irrelevance. This is a human drama whose diverse characters have simple human motives. It takes complex issues and, without ever trivialising them, succeeds in breaking them down in human terms.

Riyadh is a dangerous place for westerners to live. Acknowledging this, Americans based there whilst they work in the oil industry tend to remain within secure compounds. There they can largely do as they please, dressing and behaving in ways which would be illegal elsewhere. Naturally, these compounds are viewed by many locals as symbols of US exploitation. After one of them is attacked by terrorists, the government, afraid of losing face by admitting its own inability to resolve the situation, quietly allows an FBI team to investigate. However, the Saudis have a very different approach to investigations of this type, and the team find themselves hampered at every turn. Ultimately, they must engage with a very different culture in order to find ways of making progress - and the more they learn, the more they find themselves dangerously out of their depth.

The Kingdom manages a remarkable balancing act in being both a successful thriller and an intelligent, sensitively written culture-clash drama. Central to this is the pairing of Jamie Foxx (as the lead investigator) and Ashraf Barhom as his Saudi counterpart. The script deftly avoids the temptation to portray the Saudis as primitive, showing obvious failings (such as ignorance of forensic procedures) but also demonstrating that there is much the American characters can learn from them. There's also a continual infusion of humour, as with the American characters' reaction to perfectly ordinary Saudi driving speeds. The result of this is that when we eventually learn something about the lives of the terrorists we don't need heavy-handed speech-making to convince us that they're human too - nor how dangerous that is.

Naturally, one of the biggest clashes between US and Saudi culture relates to the role of women. This is acknowledged pragmatically and not too intrusively, though it's unfortunate that Jennifer Garner lacks the charisma to really make something of her role - it's also amusing to see US forms of sexism (such as the familiar cinematic rules about how a woman is allowed to fight) slotted in there without a second thought. Rather peculiar, though, is the complete absence of any allusion to the difficulties which Foxx's race could be expected to present in Saudi society. Perhaps it's true that all Americans are seen as identical, but this nevertheless constitutes an odd omission, especially as Saudi attitudes to race are referenced elsewhere in the script.

Although at times it verges on turning into CSI Riyadh, The Kingdom is ultimately much smarter and better informed than most of its ilk, and it consequently makes for more satisfying viewing. Action sequences are well handled - though they're often necessarily confusing, as our heroes are overwhelmed by what's happening around them, they give us a real sense of the terror which one might feel upon finding oneself in the middle of a hostile country. Local anger at America is acknowledged without being either celebrated or patronised - it simply forms the backdrop to a story which grips in its own right.

Director: Peter Berg

Writer: Matthew Michael Carnahan

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Ashraf Barhom, Ali Suliman, Jeremy Piven, Richard Jenkins, Kyle Chandler, Frances Fisher, Danny Huston

Runtime: 110 minutes

Country: US

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Movie Review: The Kingdom (2007)

• General Disdain
• Movie Reviews
• 3 responses
• --> September 29, 2007

I tend to get my guard up whenever I go into the theater to see a movie like The Kingdom . I always expect an overdose of political activism or some other jaded point of view that the writer and/or director wants to stuff down my throat. This, I believe, is the second such movie that I’ve seen that takes a volatile subject and bypasses the obvious pitfalls and just presents an intense drama without any unwanted or unneeded baggage (the first being Black Hawk Down ).

The volatile subject is terrorism and how it affects the West’s relationship with the Middle East. The Kingdom starts with a simple yet profound time line of attacks and retaliations which lead up to a daytime attack in a Western housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Killed with the gunfire and explosions are scores of woman, children and first responders. This leads to an outcry in the United States, especially within the ranks of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as they have lost agents in the blast . Of course due to bureaucracy and the tenderness of the situation, the State Department deems the situation off limits. Screw red tape though . . .

Leading the charge into Saudi Arabia is Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx), along with agents Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner), Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman) and Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper). Each of them bring a level of expertise to investigating a crime scene that the Saudi officials could only dream of. Upon their arrival they’re confronted with additional problems — lack of communication, lack of understanding Muslim traditions and the will of their babysitter, Colonel Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom). While the movie has some very biting action scenes, the crux of the movie is really within the relationship between the U.S. envoy (especially Fleury) and Colonel Faris Al Ghazi (among other Saudi officials).

In most cases, a movie that most of the viewing public suspects is going to be an action-packed adventure would fail miserably. The Kingdom manages to work because, the director, Peter Berg expertly captures the moment with vivid camera shots and gets great performances from his cast. The action sequences are extremely lifelike and disturbing. Sure I’ve seen countless footage of suicide bombing aftermaths, but I’ve not had the displeasure of seeing what one would actually look like. And let me tell you something, it is frightening. I was especially unnerved with the Nick Berg like scenes (even though I’ve actually seen the real footage) — watching the entire moment evolve before your eyes is quite the adrenaline booster.

As for performances, there isn’t a bad one in the bunch, even though some are better than others. Near the top of the list sits Jamie Foxx with another convincing characterization ( Ray being his first). His character starts the movie gung-ho for revenge but by the end he’s a changed man with a whole new outlook on life. Chris Cooper is always a damn good straight man — he plays no nonsense, gritty roles very well — and his portrayal of Grant Sykes is par for course. I didn’t expect much from Jennifer Garner or Jason Bateman but both of them kept up their end of the bargain. It was good to see Garner hadn’t forgotten how to kick ass since giving birth. The top prize however, goes to Ashraf Barhom for the fantastic job he does as a Saudi officer straddling the line between what he believes and what he is told to believe. I see a Best Supporting Actor nod coming his way.

In the end, The Kingdom opened my eyes to several things I had never paid much attention to, while it remained mostly impartial and entertaining. It makes the point that by perhaps changing one individuals’ mind, many more people may be influenced as well. I’m certainly not one to preach, but the prospect of that may indeed be better than shooting everyone who sees events from a different perspective (although I believe anyone willing to kill innocent people should not be reasoned with). See the movie and decide for yourself.

I'm an old, miserable fart set in his ways. Some of the things that bring a smile to my face are (in no particular order): Teenage back acne, the rain on my face, long walks on the beach and redneck women named Francis. Oh yeah, I like to watch and criticize movies.

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'Movie Review: The Kingdom (2007)' have 3 comments

October 1, 2007 @ 12:01 pm wes

Good movie. It just suffers from the same handheld camera syndrome that all action films seem to be afflicted with now.

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October 9, 2007 @ 10:35 am George

Well acted film. I wish it hadn’t turned into a typical “shoot ’em up” type of movie at the end though.

November 19, 2007 @ 12:58 am Sirius Lee

Great to see a movie of this sort not end up becoming a political commentary. Everyone delivered rock solid performances, with Jason Bateman surprising me the most, as I was expecting him to be typecasted in comedic projects because of his work on Arrested Development. And it was loads of fun watching a car chase happen in the Saudi capital, not something that happens very often.

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• DVD & Streaming

The Kingdom

• Drama , Mystery/Suspense , War

Content Caution

In Theaters

• Jamie Foxx as Ronald Fleury; Jennifer Garner as Janet Mayes; Chris Cooper as Grant Sykes; Jason Bateman as Adam Leavitt; Ashraf Barhom as Col. Al-Ghazi; Ali Suliman as Sgt. Haytham

Home Release Date

Distributor.

• Universal Pictures

Movie Review

The FBI is the lead organization for investigating terrorist attacks on U.S. interests abroad. And when an insidious, two-bomb attack on an American oil-company compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, kills 100 and wounds 200 more, hard-charging FBI agent Ronald Fleury can barely restrain his zeal to inspect the carnage—more specifically, to bring its terrorist masterminds to justice.

Fleury and his team of three forensic specialists—Janet Mayes, Grant Sykes and Adam Leavitt—have a scant five days to piece together the who and the what of the brutal bombing. And it’s hardly a textbook investigation. The chaotic quest for truth that ensues (marred by, among other things, another terrorist strike, inept officials, the cultural divide and the Americans’ own arrogance) feels like one part CSI: Riyadh , one part Black Hawk Down .

Positive Elements

The lone bright spot in the investigation is a gruff-but-dedicated Saudi police officer, Col. Al-Ghazi, who serves as the team’s liaison. He equips the agents to navigate the intricacies of Saudi culture and, gradually, after a rough start, he and Fleury become close friends and risk their lives for one another.

Themes of family, friendship and courage permeate The Kingdom . Both Fleury and Al-Ghazi are shown as fathers who care tenderly for their children. Talking with students at his elementary-age son’s school, Fleury describes the birth of his son as “the best day of my life.” Underscoring that sentiment, two poignant scenes show the FBI agent talking to the surviving children of parents who’ve been killed.

Fierce bravery is a characteristic of Fleury’s team in general, especially in the film’s conflict-filled climax, where the Americans are doggedly committed to pursuing the terrorists. Likewise, a principled FBI director stands up to bullying by a mean-spirited U.S. government official. Kindness is occasionally evident in the team’s actions, such as when Mayes gives candy to a little girl who’s just witnessed the shootings of several people.

Al-Ghazi convinces government officials to stop torturing a police officer he knows is innocent. Technically, he bends some rules to give Fleury’s team access to the information they need; but his willingness to do so is framed as an act of courage in the face of stifling bureaucracy and restrictive Muslim laws. Fleury returns the favor by convincing a Saudi prince to give the officer more investigatory power.

Spiritual Elements

The film’s opening montage describes key moments in Saudi Arabia’s recent history, and sets up the overarching context for the story as a battle between traditional Muslims intent on preserving a pure Islamic culture and oil-hungry sheiks and princes who’ve invited the “infidels” (read: Americans) into the Kingdom. The terrorists are shown to be motivated by their allegiance to Islam; they repeatedly make statements such as “All glory to Allah.” One homicidal bomber utters the phrase immediately before blowing up himself and many innocent victims.

The film also portrays Al-Ghazi and several others as followers of Islam who do not share the extremists’ views. We witness him praying with his family, while another character, caring for his apparently sick elderly father, says, “Peace be with you and the blessings of Allah.”

Additional spiritual references include a grieving American (whose wife was killed) angrily asking the Saudi police, “Is this what Allah wants?” and, “Does Allah love your kids more than mine?” Another American makes a joke about whose side Allah is on.

Sexual Content

An obnoxious embassy official uses the fact that Mayes is wearing a T-shirt when she arrives in Saudi Arabia to harass her. He tells her to “dial down the boobies” when a Saudi prince shows up, and he throws a shawl over her upper torso. Leavitt reads what appears to be a Complete Idiot’s Guide to either Islam or the Quran, and quizzes his fellow team members about how many virgins a Muslim martyr can expect to find waiting for him in heaven. Passing reference is made to a “circle jerk” and a “queer.”

Violent Content

The Kingdom opens with images from the first two terrorist attacks. A suicide bomber blows himself up on a softball field while men machine-gun fleeing players—including a father in front of his son—from a pickup truck. (They’re subsequently shot by police.) A much larger bomb then claims the lives of many rescuers who’ve just arrived. We glimpse bloodied bodies and two destroyed buildings reminiscent of images from the Oklahoma City bombing.

After a car bomb sends an SUV with Fleury’s team inside careening upside-down across the freeway, terrorists kidnap a team member from the wreckage. Gunfire leads to a car chase, which leads to more gunfire, then to a prolonged urban shootout. By my count, at least 25 people are shot and killed in this extended scene, and several more meet their end in grenade and rocket explosions. The violence is nonstop, frenetic, intense and realistic, if not particularly gory.

One of the most troubling shootings involves Fleury’s team killing an adolescent boy who’s repeatedly shot a Saudi police officer in the face and neck. This takes place in front of the boy’s family and other young children. The family’s grandfather then reveals a machine gun and is subsequently peppered with bullets in view of everyone.

More close-quarter violence involves a fight to the death between Mayes and a terrorist who’s on the verge of decapitating a hostage. He shoves her brutally into walls and furniture, and the feral fistfight between them only ends when she stabs him in the crotch, then skull.

Other violence includes more fistfights, grenade blasts and a painful scene in which a police officer suspected to be a terrorist is beaten severely by his superiors. Mayes’ forensic skills involve examining corpses, and several camera shots zoom in for close-ups of her pulling shrapnel out of mangled bodies. Mention is made of a young boy who watched his mom die after she was shot in the face. And we watch bombmakers (including an adolescent boy) constructing vest-bombs filled with explosives, nails, screws and marbles. A group of young Saudis are shown playing violent video games.

Crude or Profane Language

The f-word is the most frequent expletive in The Kingdom , with about 25 uses (including one pairing with “mother”). Characters utter the s-word a half-dozen or more times and take God’s or Jesus’ names in vain about the same number of times (including three instances of “g–d–n”). Interestingly, Al-Ghazi tells Fleury to watch his language on a couple of occasions.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Teenagers are shown smoking at a video arcade. Al-Ghazi also smokes. Sykes talks about his affection for Pabst Blue Ribbon bear and Schlitz malt liquor.

Other Negative Elements

Personal vengeance seems to motivate both Al-Ghazi and Fleury. The policeman tells Fleury privately that when they catch the terrorists, he doesn’t want to ask any questions. He simply wants to kill them. When Al-Ghazi asks Fleury if he understands, the American replies simply, “Yes, I do.”

The Americans’ can-do attitude often degenerates into sneering condescension and criticism as Saudi regulations hamstring their investigation. Their constant sarcasm and general disdain for the Muslim culture lives down to the “ugly American” stereotype. And at times, the Americans seem to go out of their way to offend the Saudis.

Fleury extorts a diplomat in Washington into helping him get to Saudi Arabia as quickly as possible by threatening to release sensitive information about Saudi royals’ financial connections to terrorism.

Terrorism at the hands of Islamic extremists is one of the defining issues of our time. Like some other recent films that have attempted to give viewers a gritty glimpse into terrorist activity and motivation (A Mighty Heart, Syriana, United 93), The Kingdom offers a complex—if bloody and profane—portrait of Islam and the Middle East. We see Muslims whose faith moves them to blow up their enemies. And we see Muslims whose faith motivates them to care for their families and denounce terrorism.

In so doing, The Kingdom attempts to convince us that we’re all essentially similar, regardless of our culture. The most obvious and positive example of this is Fleury’s and Al-Ghazi’s devotion to their families. More darkly, however, the film suggests that we’re also the same in our lust for vengeance. Both Al-Ghazi and Fleury want those who planned the attacks dead. It’s clear in Al-Ghazi’s case—and implied in Fleury’s—that they have no desire to wait for the legal system to dispense justice (though neither ever kills in cold blood).

[ Spoiler Warning ] That implication is absolutely rammed home when we learn that Fleury and a dying terrorist have at different points in the story whispered the same chilling words of violent consolation: “We’re going to kill them all.”

Make no mistake: This is an action movie, and audiences will likely resonate with Fleury’s feelings as they pay good money to enjoy seeing the bad guys—in this case Muslim terrorists—get what’s coming to them. Why do I think so? When Jennifer Garner’s character, Janet Mayes, stabs a would-be executioner in the groin and head, the advance-screening audience I watched the movie with laughed and clapped wildly. And director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Rundown) says he experienced the exact same thing. He told Entertainment Weekly , “I was nervous [ The Kingdom ] would be perceived as a jingoist piece of propaganda, which I certainly didn’t intend.” After audiences applauded terrorists being gunned down, he wondered, “Am I experiencing American bloodlust?”

Maybe. But The Kingdom seems to want it both ways. It raises the question of whether violence, even in the name of justice, can ever resolve intractable conflicts, or whether it simply perpetuates yet another bloody cycle of retribution. At the same time, it eagerly embraces the very behavior it supposedly critiques—prompting moviegoers to cheer all the way.

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

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The Kingdom

• A team of U.S. government agents are sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East.
• After a terrorist attack on an American housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where families and FBI Agent Francis Manner are murdered, FBI agent Ronald Fleury blackmails the Saudi Arabian consul to get five days of investigation in the location. He travels with agent Grant Sykes, Janet Mayes, and Adam Leavitt to avenge their friend and try to find those responsible for the bombing. The agents find all sorts of difficulties in their investigation, but they are supported by Colonel Faris Al Ghazi, who advises the team how to act in a hostile environment. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• In Saudi Arabia, the employees of an American oil company are attacked. Later the FBI agent assigned to protect them calls his friend and fellow agent, Ronald Fleury, to come help him find the ones responsible but bureaucracy prevents them from going. And while talking to his friend, there's another attack and his friend is killed. So Fleury raises all sorts of hell to get permission to go. But is still denied but eventually finds a way and so with three other agents they go there. They begin by trying to check out the scene of the attack but Saudis won't let them. Later an American diplomat wants them to leave but a Saudi Colonel helps them. They later meet with a member of the Royal family and they convince him to let them help. And they start by checking out the scene and finding out what happened. They later learn that the one responsible is a fanatic who is very difficult to find. — [email protected]
• When a terrorist bomb detonates inside a Western housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, an international incident is ignited. While diplomats slowly debate equations of territorialism, FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury quickly assembles an elite team and negotiates a secret five-day trip into Saudi Arabia to locate the madman behind the bombing. Upon landing in the desert kingdom, however, Fleury and his team discover Saudi authorities suspicious and unwelcoming of American interlopers into what they consider a local matter. Hamstrung by protocol-and with the clock ticking on their five days-the FBI agents find their expertise worthless without the trust of their Saudi counterparts, who want to locate the terrorist in their homeland on their own terms. Fleury's crew finds a like-minded partner in Saudi Colonel Al-Ghazi, who helps them navigate royal politics and unlock the secrets of the crime scene and the workings of an extremist cell bent on further destruction. With these unlikely allies sharing a propulsive commitment to crack the case, the team is led to the killer's front door in a blistering do-or-die confrontation. Now in a fight for their own lives, strangers united by one mission won't stop until justice is found in The Kingdom. — Universal Pictures
• 1920, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is formed by coming together of Wahhabi tribes under the Royal family. 1933, oil is found with US help. Saudi is a religious society, so special compounds (where Islamic laws do not apply) are created for housing US workers pumping oil in KSA. Aramco is formed. As economies depend more and more on oil, US wants to have a security presence in KSA. Saudi elites start spending big and lose legitimacy in eyes of their conservative support base. In 1970, US supports Israel in Arab-Israel war. KSA stops pumping oil to bring US economy to a standstill as gas prices quadruple. US make oil a national security issue as a matter of policy. 1990, Iraq invades Kuwait. Osama offers his services to KSA royals by bringing his army from Afghanistan to repel the Iraqis. But KSA go with the US offer. Osama is angry and start bombing targets all over the world. Sep 11, 15/19 attackers were Saudis. The monarchy is pro-US, but the Wahhabi extremists are anti-US. During a softball game at an American oil company housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Al-Qaeda terrorists set off a bomb, killing Americans and Saudis. While one team hijacks a car and shoots residents, a suicide bomber wearing a fake police uniform blows himself up, killing everyone near him. Sergeant Haytham (Ali Suliman) of the Saudi State Police kills the carjackers. The FBI Legal Attaché in Saudi Arabia, Special Agent Fran Manner (Kyle Chandler), calls his US colleague, Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx), to advise him about the attack. Manner is discussing the situation with DSS Special Agent Rex Burr (Tom Bresnahan) when an ambulance full of explosives is detonated, killing Manner, Burr, and many others. At FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., Fleury briefs his rapid deployment team on the attack. Fleury suspects the attack to be led by Abu Hamza, a Osama wannabe. Although the U.S. Justice Department (Led by US Attorney General Gideon Young (Danny Huston)) and the U.S. State Department hinder FBI efforts to investigate the attack (They say that more US boots in Saudi soil will inflame an already combustible situation), Fleury blackmails the Saudi ambassador Prince Thamer (Raad Rawi) into allowing an FBI investigative team into Saudi Arabia (He tells Thamer that he has proof of Saudi Royal ladies donating funds in Boston to Islamic organizations, which fund terror training camps in Indonesia and other places). Fleury gathers Special Agent Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner), a forensic examiner, FBI analyst Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman), an intelligence analyst, and Special Agent Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper), a bomb technician, to go to Saudi Arabia. On arrival they are met by Colonel Faris Al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), the commander of the Saudi State Police Force providing security at the compound. The investigation is being run by General Al Abdulmalik (Mahmoud Said) of the SANG, who does not give Fleury and his team permission to investigate. The team has only permission to walk the crime scene. Fluery's team already finds the detonator and speak to US witnesses together some clues. They find a video of the attack on the internet, which was filmed from a high vantage point. With Al-Ghazi, they find the building and figure out that the video was shot from the roof. The FBI team is invited to the palace of Saudi Prince Ahmed bin Khaled for a dinner. While at the palace, Fleury persuades the Prince that Colonel Al-Ghazi is a natural detective and should be allowed to lead the investigation. With this change in leadership, the Americans are allowed hands-on access to the crime scene. Mayes gets access to the dead bodies and finds the steel balls used to cause maximum damage in the explosion. While searching for evidence, Sergeant Haytham and Sykes discover the second bomb was detonated in an ambulance. They find the hospital from which the ambulance was stolen. Fleury learns the brother of one of the dead terrorists had access to ambulances and police uniforms. Colonel Al-Ghazi orders a special forces team to raid a house, managing to kill a few heavily armed terrorists. Following the raid, the team discovers clues, including photos of the U.S. and other Western embassies in Riyadh. Soon afterward, the U.S. Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Damon Schmidt (Jeremy Piven) notifies Fleury and his team that they have been ordered to return to the United States. Damon thinks there are 5 dead guys and that's the end of the investigation, but Fleury is not convinced as these are teenagers and don't look like senior management. On their way to King Khalid International Airport, their convoy is attacked and incapacitated. Leavitt is dragged out of the wrecked car and kidnapped while Fleury manages to wound one attacker. Al-Ghazi commandeers a civilian vehicle to chase the fourth SUV and the other car holding Leavitt into the dangerous Al-Suwaidi neighborhood of Riyadh. As they pull up, a gunman fires rocket-propelled grenades at them and a fierce firefight starts. Leavitt is tied up inside a complex. While Sykes and Haytham watch the entrance to the complex, Al-Ghazi, Fleury, and Mayes follow a blood trail and kill many gunmen inside. Mayes, separated from the others, finds Leavitt and his attackers, preparing an execution video of Leavitt. She kills the remaining insurgents, and Al-Ghazi and the team start to leave. Fleury then realizes there is a trail of blood leading to the back of the apartment. After they enter, Mayes comforts a girl in the apartment and offers her candy. In return, the girl offers Mayes a marble, similar to those embedded in the bodies of some bombing victims. Al-Ghazi sees the grandfather, reaches out with his hand, and offers to help him stand. When the old man gives him his hand, Al-Ghazi sees that the man is missing the same fingers as Abu Hamza Al-Masri (Hezi Saddik) in the terrorist group's many videos and confirms his suspicion that the grandfather is the terrorist leader. Abu Hamza's teenage grandson walks out of the bedroom and shoots Al-Ghazi in the neck, then he starts to point his gun at Mayes, prompting Fleury to kill him. Abu Hamza then pulls out an assault rifle and Haytham kills him. As Abu Hamza dies, another grandchild hugs him and Abu Hamza whispers something into his ear to calm the child down. Al-Ghazi dies in Fleury's arms. At Al-Ghazi's house, Fleury and Haytham meet his family. Fleury tells his son that Al-Ghazi was his good friend, mirroring a similar scene earlier in the movie wherein he comforted Special Agent Manner's son. Fleury and his team return to the United States, where they are commended by FBI Director James Grace (Richard Jenkins) for their outstanding work. Leavitt asked Fleury and Mayes what he had whispered to her to calm her down. The scene cuts to Abu Hamza's daughter asking her own son what his grandfather whispered to him as he was dying. The grandson tells his mother, "Don't fear them, my child. We are going to kill them all," a similar line to what Fleury had whispered to Mayes.

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The kingdom.

2007 Directed by Peter Berg

How do you stop an enemy who isn't afraid to die?

A team of U.S. government agents is sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East.

Jamie Foxx Jennifer Garner Chris Cooper Jason Bateman Ali Suliman Jeremy Piven Ashraf Barhom Richard Jenkins Tim McGraw Kyle Chandler Frances Fisher Danny Huston Kelly AuCoin Anna Deavere Smith Minka Kelly Amy Hunter Tj Burnett Omar Berdouni Raad Rawi Peter Berg Sala Baker Ahmed B. Badran Ashley Scott Nick Faltas Uri Gavriel Hezi Saddik Yasmine Hanani Mahmoud Said Tom Bresnahan Show All… Trevor St. John Sarah Hunley Kevin Brief Brian Mahoney Merik Tadros Hrach Titizian Sean Donnellan Markus Flanagan Anthony Batarse Gino Salvano Eyad Elbitar Nick Hermz Osama Bin Laden George H. W. Bush Robin Atkin Downes Saddam Hussein John F. Kennedy Larry King Colin Powell Ronald Reagan

Director Director

Producers producers.

Michael Mann Tim Smythe Scott Stuber K.C. Hodenfield Maria Williams

Writer Writer

Matthew Michael Carnahan

Casting Casting

Bruria Albeck Amanda Mackey Cathy Sandrich Gelfond

Editors Editors

Kevin Stitt Colby Parker Jr.

Cinematography Cinematography

Mauro Fiore

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

K.C. Hodenfield Jeff Okabayashi

Additional Directing Add. Directing

Phil Neilson

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

John Cameron Steven P. Saeta Ryan Kavanaugh Mary Parent Sarah Aubrey

Lighting Lighting

Cory Geryak

Additional Photography Add. Photography

Paul Hughen

Production Design Production Design

Tom Duffield

Art Direction Art Direction

Patrick M. Sullivan A. Todd Holland

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Ronald R. Reiss

Special Effects Special Effects

John Frazier Burt Dalton

Visual Effects Visual Effects

John 'D.J.' Des Jardin

Stunts Stunts

Zoë Bell Sala Baker Shauna Duggins Sherry Leigh Layla Alexander Doug Coleman Kaily Alissano Daniel Arrias Greg Anthony Jon Braver Brian Brown Chino Binamo Eric Chambers Jack Carpenter Douglas Crosby Max Daniels Gokor Chivichyan Steve Dent J. Mark Donaldson Eyad Elbitar Paul Eliopoulos Eddie J. Fernandez Glenn Goldstein Tad Griffith J. Armin Garza II Nick Hermz Chris Guzzi Alex Krimm Mark Kubr Michael Hugghins Theo Kypri Krisztian Kery Nito Larioza Aaron Michael Lacey Brian Machleit Jalil Jay Lynch Anthony Martins Eddie Matthews Anderson Martin Damien Moreno Roman Mitichyan Aladine Naamou Aryan Morgan Robert Nagle Ron Oakley Jeff O'Haco Chris Palermo Carl Paoli David Ott Brieann Rich Peggy Pere Mario Roberts Nicholas Rich Jason Rodriguez Allen Robinson Franco Maria Salamon Laurence Todd Rosenthal Ray Siegle Kevin Scott Keith Woulard Mike Smith Lou Simon

Composer Composer

Danny Elfman

Sound Sound

Gregory King Yann Delpuech

Costume Design Costume Design

Susan Matheson

Makeup Makeup

Quin Davis Bill Myer Deborah La Mia Denaver Michael Germain LaLette Littlejohn

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Barbara Lorenz Roxie Hodenfield Deidra Dixon Lisa Bertuzzi Melissa Forney Jeffrey Sacino

Universal Pictures Forward Pass Relativity Media FilmWorks MDBF Zweite Filmgesellschaft

Germany USA

Primary Language

Spoken languages.

Arabic English

Releases by Date

22 aug 2007, 17 sep 2007, 11 oct 2007, 31 oct 2007, 01 nov 2007, 02 nov 2007, 15 nov 2007, 23 nov 2007, 30 nov 2007, 29 jul 2017, 16 may 2021, 28 feb 2008, 10 mar 2008, 22 jul 2008, 09 dec 2008, 15 jan 2009, 24 feb 2011, 11 feb 2010, releases by country.

• Theatrical MA15+
• Theatrical 16
• Theatrical 15
• Theatrical 12
• Physical DVD
• Physical Blu-Ray
• Digital VOD
• Digital Netflix
• Physical 16 DVD
• Physical 16 Blu-ray

Netherlands

• Physical 16 Blu ray
• TV 16 RTL 5

South Korea

• Theatrical 18
• Theatrical R

110 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Josh Lewis ★★★ 2

Has a lot of the same political issues that most films told from this perspective do but it's pretty well-made/acted and has a sideways enough approach to how it's conceived the roles of its American characters to be of interest. And, look, I'll take diet Mann where I can get it at this point. The climactic assault sequence in this is as good a piece of calculated chaos that the 2000s had to offer and is without question the best thing Berg's ever directed.

Review by matt lynch ★★★ 2

not endorsable really, since it's incredibly reductive not to mention frequently offensive in its tokenism, and despite the novel setting/approach not even a particularly good procedural since most of the narrative is taken up with our leads being stymied in their efforts to actually investigate a crime.

nevertheless, there's a hell of a last 30 minutes, which contain some nasty SUV pinball, a brutal fistfight with Jennifer Garner getting thrown around like a rag-doll, and one of the best close-quarters tactical firefights this side of Michael Mann.

kind of even worse than ARGO but i am what i am.

Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★½ 9

I’ll be honest with y’all. I remember seeing the huge promotional poster on my local movie theater for this movie and til last night when I watched this, I could have sworn this was a Michael Mann movie. Looking back, I guess you can say there’s some Peter Berg in it like in its approach leaning more towards the documentary style almost – but its hard to ignore this one does feel like a movie from Mann at the time.

In terms of the film itself, its not really that impressive and has been done before and the doc style didn’t work that much for me seeing these pretty big actors at front and center. Also this is so focused…

Review by Nathan ★★★ 2

This has been on my movie bucket list for 10 years or so. I came close to buying it a couple times but never did, thinking I'd catch it on a streaming service eventually. I finally broke down and rented it from amazon for $3.99 and began to watch it. That was a big decision for me, I mean come on for $3.99 I can almost buy half a gallon of gas. Wow I'm really procrastinating longer to get to the review of the movie longer than I procrastinated watching the actual movie. Anyway I digress, on to the review.

It was pretty good bruh.

Review by 🇵🇱 Steve G 🇵🇸 ★★★½ 2

I guess Peter Berg is one of those directors who I can easily understand anybody hating.

His grasp on real life issues and politics strikes me as someone who thinks he's making important movies when in actual fact he's making morally dubious, braindead action movies that wouldn't have looked out of place in the 1980s. And believe me when I'm saying that's not a bad thing at all.

Some of the politics in The Kingdom and its attitudes towards Saudi culture, religion and society is amazingly idiotic. I mean, you even get a token Saudi who heroically dies in the arms of the brave American hero at the end. If I hadn't seen so much of this sort of thing…

Review by shookone ★½

somewhere between hero worship, critical undertones and action spectacle Peter Berg likes to do his traditional patriot meal: 100 US Americans die in Saudi-Arabia. why there? Iraq, Afghanistan anyone? looking through national glasses in foreign territory is a recipe all too known. " We are the victims, the location seems extraterrestrial."

a fake scenario like this has a cynical quality to it, because shit goes down every day, but who would care for 100 dead arabs, right? the special agent troops will only fly in if the dead souls spoke english. cinematic euphemisms and rearrangements for the sake of your tale.

garbage man Jamie Foxx has this morally clean mission, taking care of business. the political dimension is excluded, you won't…

Review by Remobo ★★★ 11

A real Peterberg Salad, where it doesn't look like any of the ingredients should go together, but it all somehow ends up tasting pretty good.

I'm no expert on the area, or Saudi Arabian relations, but this feels like the kind of movie that John Wayne would make today, so it can't be a very good representation.

Jeremy Piven as "Oooh...don't you hate Jeremy Piven?" Chris Cooper as The Crazy Ole Coot Jason Bateman as Jason Bateman....from the I.T. Department Jennifer Garner as Woman Who Scowls at Constant, Subtle Misogyny and Jamie Foxx as John Wayne

Review by Vonny Simarmata ★★★½

Let it be known that in The Kingdom, Jennifer Garner stabs a terrorist in the dick

Review by panos75 ★★½

After a devastating terrorist attack at an American compound in Riyadh which claims dozens of victims, including a fellow agent, an FBI task force arrives to investigate. Despite the misgivings of the Saudi government, they assign a local police officer to help them.

"The Kingdom" isn't a bad flick. As a matter of fact, I'd say that up until the last 20-30 minutes it's pretty good. The opening attack strikes a nerve with its visceral violence and the uncompromising portrayal of death, brutality, and the resulting chaos. Nevertheless, this is more of a police procedural than a typical action movie, and a good one at that. The behind-the-scenes political jostling is interesting although I have my doubts about how close…

Review by Chris Evangelista ★★½ 1

There’s a scene in this where Jennifer garner bites into a guy’s head and I swear to god they use the sound effect of someone biting into an apple.

Review by Travis Lytle ★★★★½

A potent and taut political thriller, Peter Berg's underappreciated "The Kingdom" is a vigorous and riveting drama fueled by gun-fire and age-old conflict. Able to tuck compelling human drama into high-volume spectacle, Berg assembles a film that is as powerful as it is earnest and exciting.

A geo-politically charged investigative procedural, "The Kingdom" revolves around the work of an FBI unit sent to Saudi Arabia to locate the perpetrators of a bombing. The bombing costs the lives of US citizens and reveals the uneasy cohabitation of American and Saudi, sharing the Saudi kingdom as a means to a monetary or globally important end. The investigators, interlopers in a culturally closed society, find themselves creating fragile alliances and bristling enemies during…

Review by Rob Hill ★★★½

What a fantastic final act. Absolutely relentless action, to the point that it's actively stressful. I thought the opening attack was also very well, ahem, executed, and set the stakes in an manner that caused instant buy-in.

In between some of the political pissing matches (in both Washington and Saudi Arabia) felt pretty Hollywood cliché. "When you fuck this up-- and you will --it's gonna be your job !" NEVER HEARD THAT ONE BEFORE!

Still a solid, well-paced terrorism action thriller. Some might call it more of a police procedural, but tbh most of that is just the procedures facing aggressive interference.

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Kingdom, The (United States, 2007)

The Kingdom is a police procedural with a unique - and interesting - twist. While the movie employs all of the investigative techniques we have become familiar with as a result of countless TV shows, there's a little more to this movie than CSI: Saudi Arabia . Politics of many different sorts play a role here, from the international need to keep relations between the United States and Saudi Arabia cordial to the difficulties faced by a female investigator working in a country where women do not hold equal positions to men. Actor-turned-director Peter Berg ( Friday Night Lights ) handles the tricky material of Matthew Michael Carnahan's dense script effectively and turns out a movie that is both intelligent and, at least in its latter stages, pulse-pounding.

The movie opens with a fascinating credit sequence that provides a capsule history of Saudi Arabia from the 1930s (when oil was discovered beneath its arid surface) to September 11, 2001. This is followed by a seemingly idyllic setting: men, women, and children enjoying a softball game at a picnic. It's what one might expect to see anywhere in America, except this is Riyadh, in a secure community where foreign oil workers live with their families. Terrorists have decided to use this event as a chance to capture the world's attention. Posing as policemen, suicide bombers get into the compound and blow themselves up - taking more than 100 people with them, including two FBI agents. The reverberations are felt in Washington, where agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) is readying his forensic team for an on-site investigation. With him are Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner), a pathologist; Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman), a computer geek; and Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper), an explosives expert. After some political arm twisting, Ronald is allowed to fly to The Kingdom, but only after he agrees to be babysat by local police colonel Al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), who's more interested in not making waves than in solving the crime.

Berg gives us a rousing, jarring opening that pulls us into the story. Then he dials things down for a while. The political and investigative aspects of the movie are fascinating to observe, but they aren't the sort of things to get the heart racing. Nevertheless, there's a sense of urgency. We see tensions between the Saudi police and the army, the Americans have only five days and are being kept on a tight leash, and there are indications that the terrorists may be planning a follow-up attack, possibly targeting the new arrivals. As the FBI unearths clues about how the first bombing was orchestrated and interviews witnesses, men are shown assembling more explosives. The last 30 minutes of The Kingdom is balls-to-the-wall action.

The strength of the picture is its intensity. Even during its slower parts, we can feel tension creeping in around the edges. There's also a strong sense of verisimilitude. Although the camerawork is nowhere near as hyperactive as that in The Bourne Ultimatum , there are handheld shots. In this case, the approach is effective because it's not overused. And, even if the screenplay cheats when it comes to simplifying real-world politics and situations, we nevertheless understand what we're seeing is a reasonable analog of what could be. It is not, after all, that farfetched that something like this could happen. And there are a lot of familiar touches: terrorists making tapes, Al Jazeera being used as a propaganda tool, and politicians (especially the Attorney General, played by Danny Huston) who are out of touch.

At first glance, the cast might seem to be an odd one. There's Oscar winner Jamie Foxx as the team leader. Oscar winner Chris Cooper is the tough talking, acerbic one. Jennifer Garner is the woman in a hostile land. And Jason Bateman would rather be elsewhere. Yet the chemistry between these four (none of which is of the romantic variety) works. Cooper and Bateman provide some much needed comic relief but don't go overboard. Foxx and Garner's gravity provides a good counterbalance. And everyone is effective when the shooting starts. Foxx and Garner have done action before, but Cooper and Bateman hold their own. Ashraf Barhom has as important a role as any of the four major stars, and his character has the biggest arc. There's an element of the mismatched cop plot in Al-Ghazi's interaction with Fleury.

The Kingdom is a hard film to pigeonhole because it crosses genres so freely. The pacing is also a little unwieldy. Those who are there for the higher octane elements may distracted during the lengthy investigative section. And those who are hoping for something with the heft and complexity of Syriana may find the all-action conclusion to be a little too loud (not to mention that the resolution hinges on couple of minor contrivances). Overall, however, the film is smart and engaging, and if it plays a little on our fears of the next big terrorist attack, it does so without feeling exploitative.

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