The Kingdom
"The Kingdom" is one of a slew of Middle East-themed movies that will be coming out over the next few months. Hopefully those are better than this turned out.
The opening credits give us a review of Saudi Arabian history, taking us from its very formation and first oil discovery, to the Saudi royal family becoming a worldwide power-player. This scene ends with a picture of a plane flying into the
Against the wishes of the Attorney General, Fleury assembles a team of agents who are given five days by the Saudis to track down the mastermind behind the terrorism. Unfortunately, this is where all action and momentum dies. "The Kingdom" becomes a mishmash of stereotypical characters and uninspired dialog. At the same time, the director can't seem to decide whether this is a drama or a light comedy. The agents are all played by great actors put in mediocre roles. Jennifer Garner is the forensic scientist, Chris Cooper is the evidence guy, and Jason Bateman is the computer guy who is also around for comic relief. Even Jeremy Piven shows up doing his best Ari Gold impersonation as a US Embassy representative.
After the initial tense storyline set up, we spend the next hour watching our crack FBI team, none of whom speak Arabic, sit around in frustration as the Saudi police force won't let them do their job. Finally, they find an ally in a Saudi police captain who helps them uncover the evidence they've been looking for. While this leads up to an excellent final 30 minutes of action, including a harrowing scene of near-brutality involving Bateman, it can't make up for the previous 80 minutes.
"The Kingdom" was a letdown as the story seemed promising with an amazing cast to support it. Instead, while bookended in action, the lengthy middle is stuck in the sand spinning its wheels. In the end, I can't recommend entering "The Kingdom". I give it a C+.
"The Kingdom" is rated R with a running time of 110 minutes.
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