Crossposted from Amazon.com. You know the drill – go give me a gold star over there, so you don’t have to give me a gold star over here. Or something like that.
The Spoils of War
THE KINGDOM opens with a bang – literally. A group of Saudi Arabian terrorists attack an oil company’s housing compound during a softball game, in what is obviously a highly planned and coordinated series of attacks. Once the day is over, over 100 people are dead, with another 200+ injured. While most are employees of the oil company and their families, first responders to the initial attack – including Saudi police forces, health care workers, and one FBI agent – are killed in a larger, secondary bombing.
Because “the FBI is the lead agency whenever US citizens are attacked abroad,” as the film’s opening helpfully informs us, Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) implores his bosses to let him take a team to the scene in order to investigate the crime – and the sooner, the better, as evidence starts to degrade after the first 36 hours. Wary of the political ramification, his higher-ups resist, so Fleury circumvents the system with a little international blackmail. Once Fleury and his team (Jennifer Garner as Janet Mayes, Chris Cooper as Grant Sykes, and Jason Bateman as Adam Leavitt) arrive in Saudi Arabia, the rest of the film alternates between diplomatically frustrated investigation and a suspenseful race to catch the terrorist mastermind behind the bombings before the team’s five allotted days run out.
Aside from the initial suicide bombing scenes, the first third of the film moves at a snail’s pace. It’s front-loaded with dialogue and very little action – just a lot of mind-numbing bureaucracy and miles of red tape. Indeed, many of the deleted scenes featured on the DVD were obviously cut from this section of the film, while much of the end of the movie apparently remained intact. Even with these changes, the opening scenes still tend to drag.
Once the action picks up, THE KINGDOM is a gut-wrenching ride. The special effects are incredible, and the two major action sequences – a car wreck and a subsequent apartment shootout – will have you gripping the edge of your seat. The realism, I think, makes the “terror” scenes much more painful and horrific to watch. As I’m writing this, Google’s headlines scream at me: “The jihadi and the beheading plot,” “New Afghan suicide attack kills dozens,” “Death toll in Afghan suicide blast tops 100.” THE KINGDOM may be a work of fiction, but the images are all too familiar.
In addition to the standard “making of” featurettes, the DVD has one really cool and unusual extra that makes it worth the price of a rental, even if you’ve already seen the movie in the theater. You can replay the apartment shootout four times, viewing it from the different perspectives of the various groups of characters (Fleury and Al-Ghazi; Mayes; Leavitt; and Sykes and Haytham). One action-packed scene, four vantage points. It’s one of the most inventive extras I’ve encountered in awhile. Yay DVDs!
While the action sequences take center stage, the acting is superb as well – with the sole exception of Foxx, who mumbles his way through the movie. Ashraf Barhom and Ali Suliman are excellent as the Saudi policemen who assist in the investigation, and I just wanted to squeeze Jason Bateman’s baby cheeks by the end of the movie. Jennifer Garner, in particular, kicked arse as Special Agent Janet Mayes (welcome back to the genre, Syd! – err, Jen). Personally, I think Congress ought to pass a resolution limiting her to action/adventure movies, at least until she hits 60. When they’re done breaking the whole steroids in baseball scandal, that is.
Aside from being a gripping action/adventure/suspense flick, THE KINGDOM also delivers a surprising message on the nature of war and peace – and the human condition. Far from being another “git the brownies,” xenophobic, imperialist, neocon wet dream, the film’s conclusion stresses that we aren’t really so different after all, especially in our lust for revenge and our intolerance of the “Other.” War, violence, oppression – all are a never ending cycle, as old as humanity itself. “An eye for en eye” isn’t true justice; doubly so when neither side can remember who poked out whose eye first. An unexpectedly progressive “war on terra” movie, perfect for hawks and doves alike.
Once the film was over, I turned to my husband and asked, “A Department of Peace* doesn’t seem so silly after all, does it?” He the libertarian (small “l”, thankyouverymuch) didn’t bother arguing, as is his normal knee jerk reaction. Hell, he couldn’t even muster a bit of mockery for Kucinich’s hippie idealism. Given the vicious and oppressive nature of our species, a department devoted solely to studying and promoting peace, cooperation, and human rights and dignity is just what we need, I think.
And I suspect that he might finally think so, too.
* As proposed by Congressman and two-time former Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, the vegan woodland elf of hippie lore. Yeah, I voted for him. Twice.
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Tagged: movie review the kingdom jennifer garner jamie foxx jason bateman chris cooper Ashraf Barhom war peace war on terra war on terror religion godbags racism
