The Kingdom

Director Peter Berg tries to do too much with his latest movie, “The Kingdom,” starring Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, and Jennifer Garner. Part CSI-like crime procedural, part revisionist scenario, part Rambo-blow-‘em-up, part buddy movie – there are just too many parts to be effective. Terrorists attack an American compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, killing men, women, and children. After some political posturing, an FBI forensics team of four, headed by Ronald Fleury (Foxx), is given five days to investigate the crime scene. They dig through the rubble, looking for evidence of the kind of detonators and chemicals used in the explosion. The fact that this team is able to solve the crime and catch the terrorists harkens back to the days when America had an image of the good guys in white hats. The high octane final 30 minutes puts any Rambo movie to shame with a spectacular car crash, a heated gun battle and a knock-down-drag-out fight between Jennifer Garner’s character and a terrorist. Finally, there’s the growing respect between Fleury and a Saudi police colonel, both emphasizing the different cultures of these men and the bond that policemen share in catching the bad guys. And Berg uses the shaky hand-held camera way too much. All in all, I know that “The Kingdom” has been getting mostly positive reviews from the press; however, it just didn’t work for me. (9/30/07)