The Kingdom - B+

Released on DVD this week. Rated R. Original review: here.

4 FBI agents go to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to investigate a Khobar Towers-like bombing on an American compound. Lead agent Jamie Foxx’s best friend was killed during the blast so he’s obsessed with solving the crime. His ability to con both Americans and Saudis to fit his agenda is sometimes far-fetched, but Foxx is in full movie star form with a terrific ability for empathy when the moment requires. The inevitable cultural clashes develop into even more inevitable intercultural teamwork.

The movie isn’t as engrossing as it should be. Foxx’s shout-out to Terrell, Texas is out of place. And director Peter Berg’s decision to use similar music to Friday Night Lights (still his best film) as well as FNL alum Tim McGraw in an emotional but unbalanced scene is also ill-suited since Odessa and Saudi Arabia have zero in common except both are kinda sandy. But Berg continues to be a top-notch action director and the last 30 minutes are riveting.

As 2 of the other agents, Chris Cooper is at his usual level of excellence and Jennifer Garner is in her best ass-kicking mode. As the wisecracking agent, Jason Bateman delivers some much need levity to the proceedings and his character’s journey is the center of the movie. After he gets back to the US, he’ll most likely be back to his class clown baseline in a few months. Americans clown around and are mostly unaware of what’s going on outside of the 48 contiguous states. After Americans celebrate Christmas with friends and families, the assassination of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto has much of the Eastern hemisphere in turmoil. We’ll probably forget about it by the end of the Patriots-Giants game. Go Giants!