The Kingdom Review

Still mad about last night's game...although listening to the Boss's new album has definitely helped me out. I haven't listened to whole album yet but will say that...initially...I really like that Girls in Their Summer Clothes song.

Here's the review on The Kingdom

This week we look at the new release The Kindom (R). Jamie Foxx stars as a FBI agent who bribes and blackmails his investigative team into Saudi Arabia to look for terrorists who exercised a massive attack on an oil company's civilian compound. Members of his team include Jason Bateman, Chris Cooper, and Jennifer Garner. Ashraf Barhom costars as the Saudi law enforcement official who escorts them.

Ryan: From the MTV-esque opening history lesson to the action driven plot, The Kingdom is bascially a “Syriana-for-Dummies” I don't mean that despairingly. The reality is that The Kingdom is a traditional Hollywood style-over-substance film. The film looks great. The action is loud and intense. The performances are slick. Unfortunately the movie only exists on the superficial level. Sometimes that works(Michael Mann movies come to mind) and sometimes it doesn't--I'm thinking of most of Michael Bay's films. The Kingdom falls in between of being a forgettable action flick and an entertaining thrill piece.

Andy: The Kingdom definitely poses a couple of questions just by existing. How ready are audiences to be receptive to movies about our military involvement in the Middle East? And how read is Hollywood to tackle these issues? For reasons Ryan details above, The Kingdom doesn't really answer either one of these questions. It uses current events for a jumping off point to make a military thriller. It's like those TV-dramas that have episodes “Ripped from the Headlines,” except that the Kingdom spends even less time dealing with those pesky issues in favor of action.

Ryan: Even though The Kingdom exists only on the surface, it is always refreshing to see Middle Easterns portrayed as legitimate characters and not just static, generic stereotypes. Much of the film's high points exists with the relationship between the Jamie Foxx character and the Ashraf Barhom character. These two characters provide the film's narrative a strong enough relationship that it propels the movie along in a positive direction. Their interaction of becoming friends (or brothers) allows the moviegoers to buy into the film. The Kingdom is not necessarily a “buddy-cop” picture but it does have that vibe going for it that works to its advantage.

Andy: As an action movie, The Kingdom is pretty sound. We know Foxx can carry a movie like this, and he does it again here quite well. He's all empathy when we wants to be, but can turn into a fierce fighting machine in the snap of a finger. Not many actors can successfully do that, and he's done it repeatedly. The scenes with Ashraf Barhom really are the movie's strong points. Barhom hasn't made very many movies yet, but his performance here is a bit of a revelation. It will be interesting to see what types of roles he can get out of Hollywood in the future.

Ryan: The film does boast a respectable cast--even though the actors do not have a lot to work with. Jamie Foxx can carry a movie and he showcases that here. This role for Chris Cooper seems tailor made for him and he does the best he can with it. Jennifer Gardner, who's had a hit-and-miss film career demonstrates that in the right part she can do legitimate Silver Screen work. Jason Bateman is nothing more than comedic relief but that's really not a bad thing. Overall the performances by the leads do enable the film in being more than a run-of-the-mill action movie.

Andy: The cast is particularly solid for a movie coming out this time of year. Even if they are all one-dimensional characters, these are guys (and girl) that it is fun to watch work. They do an okay job even without the opportunity to truly shine.

The Kingdom is an all right movie that could have aspired to be much more. Ultimately it is just a B- action movie.