Review: The Kingdom
With targets as big as terrorism, American dependence on Arab oil producers, and the clash between Western and Islamic culture, it's so easy to go overboard that Peter Berg's The Kingdom triumphs by being a nuanced, if somewhat predictable, thriller.
The story involves a team of FBI agents going to Riyadh to investigate a major terrorist attack against a U.S. expatriate compound. Naturally, they're gung-ho types who take matters into their own hands while higher-ups play politics, but they're more smart than wise-ass, and their interaction with the local authorities is complex and interesting. Amid action would probably embroil all of world politics, the movie wisely stays focused on the FBI team and its ally in the Saudi army, Colonel Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom). Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper, in particular, make them worth our attention for 110 minutes. Jennifer Garner is also strong, and Jason Bateman, in one of The Kingdom's smart touches, is not as far from "Arrested Development"'s Michael Bluth as you might expect.
Visuals are a highlight of any project by Peter Berg, who brought the high-school football drama "Friday Night Lights" to TV as one of the best-looking series ever. (FNL fans will recognize Kyle Chandler as a distraught FBI agent and Minka Kelly in a more fleeting role.) All the touches that have made the fictional Dillon, Texas, look so good are here: handheld camera, shallow focus, extreme closeups, dialog shots in profile, face shots dominated by out-of-focus objects, characters shot through doorways and other frames, and near-silhouettes against blown-out sunlight. Naturally, the action sequences in The Kingdom are tailor-made for those edgy effects, but what makes Berg's work stand out is that he uses them in quiet in-between sequences too, creating a documentary feel.
The Kingdom isn't a profound film, but beyond a bit of exposition early on, it's more subtle than the average Hollywood production. Much of this is thanks to Foxx, who expertly balances the rage and intelligence in his character. Like Berg's signature camera angles, The Kingdom attacks its subject matter with a masterful series of glancing blows.
The story involves a team of FBI agents going to Riyadh to investigate a major terrorist attack against a U.S. expatriate compound. Naturally, they're gung-ho types who take matters into their own hands while higher-ups play politics, but they're more smart than wise-ass, and their interaction with the local authorities is complex and interesting. Amid action would probably embroil all of world politics, the movie wisely stays focused on the FBI team and its ally in the Saudi army, Colonel Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom). Jamie Foxx and Chris Cooper, in particular, make them worth our attention for 110 minutes. Jennifer Garner is also strong, and Jason Bateman, in one of The Kingdom's smart touches, is not as far from "Arrested Development"'s Michael Bluth as you might expect.
Visuals are a highlight of any project by Peter Berg, who brought the high-school football drama "Friday Night Lights" to TV as one of the best-looking series ever. (FNL fans will recognize Kyle Chandler as a distraught FBI agent and Minka Kelly in a more fleeting role.) All the touches that have made the fictional Dillon, Texas, look so good are here: handheld camera, shallow focus, extreme closeups, dialog shots in profile, face shots dominated by out-of-focus objects, characters shot through doorways and other frames, and near-silhouettes against blown-out sunlight. Naturally, the action sequences in The Kingdom are tailor-made for those edgy effects, but what makes Berg's work stand out is that he uses them in quiet in-between sequences too, creating a documentary feel.
The Kingdom isn't a profound film, but beyond a bit of exposition early on, it's more subtle than the average Hollywood production. Much of this is thanks to Foxx, who expertly balances the rage and intelligence in his character. Like Berg's signature camera angles, The Kingdom attacks its subject matter with a masterful series of glancing blows.
posted by Steve at
8:03 PM
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