Review of The Kingdom (1973) by Adam G — 29 Nov 2011

Walking out of this movie I looked at my two friends that I saw it with and we all agreed that this was a pretty kick-*** flick, and I think it's a sure shot that everyone in the crowd agreed as well due to the fact that by the end of the movie people where clapping and laughing when the movie really kicked into full gear. This is a political thriller that's smart, thoughtful, interesting, and somehow it manages to pull off being a crowd pleaser as well... I've never seen a crowd reaction to a movie in its genre like the one that this one received tonight.

I'll start by talking about the style of the film. Peter Berg is known for his modernistic hand-held, gritty style which is becoming a big trend in hollywood. This movie shows that Berg is simply the best with this technique. The reviews say otherwise but I never thought it was obnoxious for a second. The handheld camera works in this movie extremely well and heightens the tension. Things that are unclear in a shot are generally firing a weapon of some sort and this of course increases the intensity. Quick cutting in films also generally bugs me, but it works quite well in this movie and I wasn't annoyed with that modern technique either. The movie is aiming at realism every step of the way and it achieves it. It's a very non-cinematic approach and in this case it works. It's a gritty, down and dirty style, and I really liked the way it worked in this movie every step of the way. This is Berg's best movie to date, no question.

The acting is also quite good. The simple fact that Jennifer Garner's acting didn't annoy me (she always bugs the shit out of me for some reason) is a big testament to how well the material and the direction must have been as well. Jamie Foxx does a great job in this film as well, playing the capable, smart, family man detective that just wants to do his job right. It is a bit sterotypical but it's done quite well. Chris Cooper has a pretty small yet a fairly interesting supporting role, playing the old cop that knows what he's doing and is of course an expert at investigating a crime scene. As I mentioned earlier Garner does a good job, but so does Jason Bateman who also didn't bug me with his wise cracks. He actually does a pretty good job in this movie. Piven is very good for the few scenes that he's in as well, playing another total ******* and doing it with veteran like style. I'd also like to mention Ashraf Barhom who plays the FBI team's guide throughout the film, hired to keep them safe and sound and to keep them away from really investigating the crime. He does a great job in this movie and I'd like to give him recognition for that because I doubt many other people will. He starts out as kind of a hard-*** and you don't really know if you're going to like him or not, and then gradually he comes around a bit and he plays the part great.

The script for the film is pretty tight and to the point. It does try to make several points but the one that stands out the most is the one that it tries to make in its final scene, which is basically that we aren't as different from the terrorists as we'd like to think. This might seem totally obvious, but it's weirdly profound in the way that it's done in the movie. The script also knows how not to be totally one sided so I don't think that any logical thinking, middle ground, moderate muslims will be outraged by this film. It treats muslims fairly, and paints a good picture of them overall. It essentially doesn't paint all muslims to be terrorists and it's a good thing because I think that would've been a fatal flaw if this movie tried to do something that stupid.

The movie itself starts out in a big way. It sets itself up as being an intense, insightful, and interesting political thriller/action flick, even during the opening credits (which are very different from anything I've seen in a movie before might I add). After the first ten or so minutes the movie does get a bit slow, its not a non-stop action movie by any means. It is interesting throughout though. It really doesn't earn its very hard R rating (it's rated R for "Intense Sequences of Graphic Brutal Violence and for Language) utnil the very end of the movie, which is a pretty fantastic finale, probably the best one I've seen all year actually. Through it's slow moments it does have one thing going for it, and interestingly enough, that's humor. This movie is pretty darn funny, and so are most really great films because movies that are too self-serious generally fail in the long run. This movie is interesting throughout, but when it gets going, its also very intense, engaging, and at times extremely entertaining, and interestingly enough although there are a few "Oh crap that had to hurt!" moments, nothing in this movie is all that hard to watch. I think most women wouldn't have any problem seeing this movie, but it is still, at heart, a total guy movie.

It doesn't really talk too much about politics, but it definetely has a lot to do with culture and religion, which was really a great thing for a movie of this kind to explore. I think it will do very well, its getting some good early hype, good early advertising, and it's probably going to get high box office in its later weekends due to the fact that I think most people that see this film are going to tell their friends to go and see it. As I've said before, it's a crowd pleaser. I expect to see more movies like this one in the near future if this one is successful, and as long as those ones are well done, thats a good thing. This is really a pretty great movie, go see it if you're at all interested.

8.5/10.