DVD REVIEW: The Kingdom

The movie The Kingdom was my second requested Netflix DVD, after Eastern Promises (see Mad Professah's review). The film stars Oscar winners Jamie Lee Foxx (Best Actor, "Ray"), Chris Cooper (Best Supporting Actor, "Adaptation") and Jennifer Garner and was directed by Peter Berg (the creator of the television show Friday Night Lights).


Although widely considered a box-office failure with a mere $47 million in domestic receipts, the did grab a fair amount of attention due to its subject matter: a terrorist attack on an American compound in the kingdom of Saudia Arabia leads to an American team of FBI forensic investigators being sent in to try to solve the crime.


The film takes a hard, close look at life in Saudi Arabia and tries to catch some of the nuances and contradictions of the Muslim-Western kulturkampf (culture war).


The acting is quite good, with Jennifer Garner easily holding her own among her two celebrated co-stars. The action is really well-directed and pulse-poundingly suspenseful. The main defect of the movie is its baldfaced descent into schmaltz (repeatedly). Also, some viewers may find its neutral political posture annoying.


As a piece of filmed entertainment, The Kingdom is effective and should definitely be rented, especially if you (like me) missed it in the theater the first time.


GRADE: B+.