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‘Kingdom’ a good crime, cultural drama
Mac Olsen
For Spotlight
Canadian Home Video Rating 1 hour, 50 minutes $14.95 for single-disc edition at www.columbiahousecanada.com
Director Peter Berg offers a riveting, insightful look at how Muslim extremism and American foreign policy clash in his 2007 movie, ‘The Kingdom’.
The movie stars Jamie Foxx as Ronald Fleury, Chris Cooper as Grant Sykes, Jennifer Garner as Janet Mayes, Jason Bateman as Adam Leavitt and Ashraf Barhoum as Colonel Faris Al Ghazi.
The story takes place in Washington, D.C. and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The movie opens with actual headlines and documentary footage of American foreign policy and oil interests, terrorist bombings and insights into the Al-Suwaidi living in Riyadh, who are offended by the American influences there.
It also shows the delicate balance the Saudi Royal Family has in maintaining its relationship with the U.S. government and not offending religious conservatives in their country.
Next, we move into a compound where American civilians are playing a baseball game. The terrorists have picked the right moment and place to shoot, maim and blow up the foreign “infidels,” inflicting horrific casualties. But the carnage isn’t over, as a powerful car bomb goes off at another location a short time later. These scenes justify the 18A rating.
Abu Hamza (played by Hezi Saddik) is responsible for the attacks and uses the Internet to boast. However, a boy who witnesses the acts from the terrorists’ perspective flinches, a critical counterpoint demonstrating not all Muslims desire to commit such acts.
Fleury and his team are sent to Riyadh, but they are hamstrung by diplomatic red tape and Muslim cultural sensitivities. Ghazi is their “babysitter,” telling them what they can and cannot do.
Fleury and Ghazi don’t get along initially, but eventually they establish a rapport and pursue the leads. We also get to see Ghazi’s family life, which is very similar to Fleury’s. It’s another poignant element of the story, further demonstrating Berg’s ability to provide a balanced view of Muslims.
Meanwhile, Sykes, Mayes and Leavitt conduct their CSI-style investigation into the bombings. Mayes has the most difficult job, conducting autopsies on the terrorists. But she isn’t allowed to touch their bodies, so Ghazi has to do it. Also, being a woman, she has to wear Muslim garb to conceal her face.
There are a few twists and turns towards the end, as well as some violent shootouts which further justify the 18A rating.
Heaping more praise, all the actors are good, especially Foxx and Barhoum because they are the linchpin of the cultural exploration. Then there’s the cinematography, as the United Arab Emirates was used as the location shooting for Riyadh. The architecture of buildings, the urban layout and the mosques makes it feel like Riyadh.
Overall, ‘The Kingdom’ deserves 4½ stars out of five for an outstanding story and great cinematography.
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