The Kingdom (DVD)

...Adam Leavitt. But once in the desert kingdom, Fleury and his team encounter cultural and political opposition to their presence. As they unlock the secrets of the bomb site they uncover evidence of an extremist cell determined to cause further destruction.

Actor-turned-director Peter Berg takes what could be a potentially insightful movie on American foreign policy and turns it into a brainless, balls-to-the-wall action fest. It is a ...
...at Republican whipping boys; The Middle East. If only Berg had taken some time to research the current political climate, perhaps he would have come up with something far less offensive to anyone of Arabic descent. But instead he has decided to paint every non-American character as a backwards-thinking, anti-American potential terrorist. If they aren’t actively involved in bombing softball games with the intention of killing innocent families of ... more

After an American enclave in Saudi Arabia is bombed in a terrorist attack, Special Agent Ronald Fleury negotiates a secret trip to Riyadh to find those responsible. He is accompanied by a team of experts including forensics examiner Janet Mayes, explosives expert Grant Sykes and intelligence analyst Adam Leavitt. But once in the desert kingdom, Fleury and his team encounter cultural and political opposition to their presence. As they unlock the secrets of the bomb site they uncover evidence of an extremist cell determined to cause further destruction.

Actor-turned-director Peter Berg takes what could be a potentially insightful movie on American foreign policy and turns it into a brainless, balls-to-the-wall action fest. It is a celebration of gung-ho US “might is right” propaganda aimed squarely at Republican whipping boys; The Middle East. If only Berg had taken some time to research the current political climate, perhaps he would have come up with something far less offensive to anyone of Arabic descent. But instead he has decided to paint every non-American character as a backwards-thinking, anti-American potential terrorist. If they aren’t actively involved in bombing softball games with the intention of killing innocent families of hard-working white-bread Americans, then they are using their religion as an excuse to obstruct justice. But character development isn’t the director’s forte; the Americans come across as a bunch of crass idiots that would rather shoot first and ask questions later. They don’t even make any attempt to understand the culture they are entering or learn a few words of Arabic. Everything they do seems to be engineered to create more hostility and opportunities for fire-fights and big explosions. With the focus on flash-bang effects it means you don’t give a damn about any of the players. To give him his due, Berg is good at shooting action. The pyrotechnics are impressive and the combat is at times painfully authentic looking. His treatment of violence is almost orgiastic, shooting from multiple angles and replaying events in slow-motion, rendering the human cost of the violence moot.

Berg’s visual style favours style over substance. In addition to the aforementioned taste for explosions, he tries to overload the audience with timelines, newsreel footage and news narration, photo montages and a quick history lesson covering the origins of Saudi Arabia and Osama Bin Laden. And that’s just in the opening minutes. But it feels like a calculated attempt to give credence to a brainless action movie. His use of hand-held cameras should bring immediacy to events, but feels like an affectation. Surveillance-style points of view are more effective, with the camera acting like a vigilant pair of eyes. However it isn’t enough to deflect attention from the lack of decent story for a hundred-and-ten minutes. The result is a pile of personal rhetoric masquerading as politically motivated action movie.

The screenplay by newcomer Matthew Michael Carnahan appears to have been written by someone with no understanding of the situation in the Middle East or the concept of ethnic stereotyping. It feels like he watched “Fahrenheit 9/11”, heard Osama Bin Laden was Saudi Arabian and decided that all Saudis are terrorists. Sadly his characterisation is limp throughout. The FBI agents are condescending towards the Saudis and motivated by a desire for revenge. Meanwhile the Saudis are all Islamic fundamentalists and potential suicide bombers or suspicious, obstructive heathens. Even the helpful Colonel Al Ghazi is initially suspicious of the FBI agents and it is only through serious combat that he comes to trust them. Fleury and his colleagues are supposed to be highly trained experts in their respective fields, but they barely have a personality between them. They come across as bombastic boors who steamroller through everyone. At least Leavitt makes no pretence of being a nice, likable person. And making the villain faceless until almost the end of the movie makes every single Arabic character a potential threat, adding to the undertone of racism that pervades the entire story.

The battle for hearts and minds amongst the young is dealt with clumsily, with both sides preaching hate and revenge, without giving any alternative. So it makes a mockery of any possible plea for tolerance. The dialogue lacks any semblance of subtlety and naturalism, thanks to a constant stream of leaden action movie prattle.

Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx plays Ronald Fleury as a canny operator and vigilant agent. But this is tempered with some serious attitude that makes him difficult to like, even though he’s the sole character we see outside of his work. He may be a devoted dad, but he comes across as a pain in the backside. He handles himself well in the action sequences, but doesn’t quite have the physical presence of an action star.

Jennifer Garner gets the weakest role as forensic examiner Janet Mayes. She’s too emotional, making her feel too vulnerable for the hard work of the mission. She does well in the action sequences, selling the blows given and received. But her gasping delivery really got on my nerves after a while. As Grant Sykes, Chris Cooper plays another of his patented cynical old hand roles, but proves warmer than you might originally expect. Full credit to Jason Bateman for being brave enough to play someone truly unlikeable; as Adam Leavitt he is irritating, whiny, argumentative and sarcastic. But Bateman also makes him feel human. Ashrof Barhom plays Colonel Faris Al Ghazi as an efficient, principled police officer who is determined to observe protocol while getting the job done. Meanwhile Danny Huston puts in an appearance as a vindictive politician.

I would never have guessed the original music was by Danny Elfman as there is nary a trace of his trademark twinkling piano and chimes. Instead he has gone for a modern, masculine style that features twanging electronica with reversed backing percussion and parping horns. The bombing is accompanied by rising brass and Saudi Arabia is illustrated with electronic Arabic rhythms. The home lives of the Saudis and their prayers are underlined by echoing, jangling guitars, while a thread of unsettling percussion underlies the entire movie. There are also passages of electronic backing and echoing, loose, twangy guitars. It’s an effective score that underlines the action in the movie without smothering it.

“The Kingdom” is a misinformed action movie that seizes on a Middle America’s current fear of the Middle East to push the previous incumbent of the White House’s questionable foreign policy. It is too black and white in its depiction of Arab-American relations and is borderline racist in the way it portrays the Saudi people. I suspect it will appeal to those that want plenty of bang for their buck but don’t question the viewpoints expressed by the director and writer. Without the biased political standpoint, this could be enjoyed as a brainless action movie. But because it has pretensions of being something more, it fails utterly. 

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