The Kingdom (2007)

Cinema Rat

follow this blog

21 followers

90 daily readers

rank of 539

E-mail Subscription

Receive an e-mail notification of new posts on this site:

Cinema Rat Forums

Rat Chat (11)

The Kingdom (2007)

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Ali Suliman, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman
Director: Peter Berg
Screenplay: Matthew Carnahan

Running time: 110 minutes

FUNDAMENTALIST Islamic terrorists in Saudi Arabia target an American compound full of oil workers. In a devastating show of self-belief a suicide bomber kills and wounds several hundred workers during a company baseball game. Cue Ronald Fleury (Foxx) and his crew of FBI forensic specialists, who are reluctantly let into the inner sanctum of Saudi Arabian security to find the bombers.

The film highlights the dichotomy of a country that at its heart is fundamentalist, while to the outside world tries to portray itself as a beacon of hope for the Middle East. This underlying political subtext provides the film's theme - an autocratic regime upheld by fundamentalist Wahibbist traditions can’t be seen by its best customer (the USA) to be soft on terrorism, but has to balance that by not being seen by its conservative population as a puppet to western forces.
Foxx is good as usual, and is ably supported by fellow Oscar-winner Cooper, as well as Garner and Batemen. However, the real star of this movie is Ali Suliman, who continues his good work after great stints in Paradise Now and the Syrian Bride. He epitomises a person caught between two worlds; someone helping people he doesn’t really like to solve a crime he abhors.

3.5 stars out of 5

Vote

Add To:

subscribe to this blog

follow this blog on Orble

start your own blog

[ Link ]

March 10th 2008 @ 00:46

Posted By: Mike Wheeler - Category: No Category

Related Posts:

Relate This Post

Recent Posts:
      The Fighter
      My Soul To Take
      127 Hours

[ Previous - Osama (2003) ]

[ Next - The Lives of Others (2007) ]

Comments

2 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Sydney Diary
Personals
Brisbane Diarystar
Zoo Parent

1. March 10th 2008 @ 04:25. Harry Says:

I really enjoyed this one -- and hopefully it was a bit of an eye opener for the US audiences..

Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train

2. April 7th 2008 @ 09:09. Morgan Bell Says:

i found the recent political history or saudi arabia very interesting in the opening credits of this film . . . i found the performances of the american charcters to be bombastic and obnoxious and i thought it was turning into another "only america can save the world" flick . . . but then i was pleasantly surprised by the final sequence where it is revealed what is whispered in the ear of both the terrorist and the american . . . the end ultimately makes this film a clever piece

[ Previous - Osama (2003) ]

[ Next - The Lives of Others (2007) ]