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The Kingdom

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The Kingdom (2007)

51%
43%
84%
N/A
N/A
N/A
51 %
Reviews Counted: 179 Fresh: 92  Rotten:87 Average Rating: 5.9/10
 
Consensus: While providing several top-notch action scenes, The Kingdom ultimately collapses under the weight of formula and muddled politics.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: 15

Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins

Theatrical Release: 05-10-2007

Synopsis: Actor, writer, and director Peter Berg (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS) delivers a fearless, action-packed political thriller with THE KINGDOM. Shot in the Middle East with unsettling immediacy, the hand-held cameras put viewers right inside the action, while the tension between American FBI... Actor, writer, and director Peter Berg (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS) delivers a fearless, action-packed political thriller with THE KINGDOM. Shot in the Middle East with unsettling immediacy, the hand-held cameras put viewers right inside the action, while the tension between American FBI agents and their Saudi counterparts maintains an interesting uncertainty about who's "right" and who's "wrong." The bad guys, however, are unmistakable: the film opens with a brutal terrorist attack on an oil company compound in Saudi Arabia, where a visiting FBI agent is killed. Back home in Washington, fellow agents Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx, RAY) and Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner, ALIAS), want revenge, and will do whatever it takes to gain access to the investigation. Fleury all but blackmails a Saudi prince to get clearance against the wishes of a timorous attorney general, and flies overnight to the scene of the crime. Accompanying him are the no-nonsense forensics expert Mayes, Southern-fried bomb authority Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper, ADAPTATION), and Jewish smart aleck Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman, ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT). Once there, they encounter the resistance of a Saudi government more interested in getting the Americans safely out of the country and avoiding conflict, rather than in solving the crime. They are assigned a smarmy handler with a weak stomach (Jeremy Piven, ENTOURAGE) to make sure they stay out of trouble. The team must navigate a maze of bureaucracy to begin collecting evidence, but they have an unlikely ally in their Saudi escort, Colonel Faris Al Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom, PARADISE NOW), a scrupulous and intelligent officer whom Fleury befriends. Soon enough, procedure and protocol give way to car chases and explosive fire fights, and the current bleak political climate of extremism and violence is portrayed in a stark light with no easy answers. [More]

Genre: Action/Adventure

Starring: Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, Jason Bateman, Jeremy Piven

Director: Peter Berg
Screenwriter: Matthew Michael Carnahan
Producer: Michael Mann, Scott Stuber
Composer: Danny Elfman

DVD Info

Release:

Nov 12, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Snap Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French, Spanish
  • Subtitles - English (SDH), French, Spanish - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - Peter Berg - Director
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Featurette - 1. CHARACTER BY CHARACTER: THE APARTMENT SHOOTOUT
  • 2. CONSTRUCTING THE FREEWAY SEQUENCE
  • 3. CREATING THE KINGDOM

Interactive Features:

  • HISTORY OF THE KINGDOM: AN INTERACTIVE TIMELINE

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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Ratings Image
N/A

It's a frenetic, often incomprehensible film, full of rapid cutting, giant close-ups and muttered dialogue.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/20/07
Philip French
Observer [UK]
Ratings Image
3/5

Absurdly gung-ho but no less enjoyable thriller, providing you don't take the flag-waving politics too seriously.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
Ratings Image
3/5

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/film/film-23339226-details/The+Kingdom/filmReview.do?reviewId=23414945

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Derek Malcolm
This is London
Ratings Image
3/5

And that’s the problem. The Kingdom isn’t awful – the relentless pace, thumping soundtrack, twisting plot and shaky camera-work all see to that.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Stuart McGurk
thelondonpaper
Ratings Image
N/A

If this mix doesn't entirely work, it's perhaps because there are so few surprises – the forensic elements of the investigation would be wrapped up in minutes by CSI's boffins. Still, it's possible to respect the effort while doubting the achievement.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2/5

Intelligent films about US involvement in the Middle East can be counted on the broken fingers of one hand, and this one makes Syriana look like Citizen Kane.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Anthony Quinn
Independent
Ratings Image
1/5

Rambo meets Syriana in this bloated action-thriller, which tries to be gung-ho and PC at the same time.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Macho lunacy.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times
Ratings Image
3/5

A cut above the bullish jingoism that would have characterised a film of this ilk at the beginning of this decade.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/5

As a pure thriller, it's entertaining - but The Kingdom tries too hard to be a crowd-pleaser, and ends up standing in the shadows of better and more provocative movies.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Saxon Bullock
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/5

It may feel a bit like CSI: Riyadh, but The Kingdom earns its keep when it addresses thorny political realities in the Gulf States through the milieu of a culture-clash thriller. Hard to excuse that banzai finale, though.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Neil Smith
Total Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2/5

In twenty years this will look as subtle as an episode of "Love Thy Neighbour".

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Mike Brett
Little White Lies
Ratings Image
1/6

A terrifically stupid film. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Dave Calhoun
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/5

Think Team America with the radiators turned up....

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Tim Evans
Sky Movies
Ratings Image
4/5

Not quite as smart as it wants to be, and a better action movie than it is a political thriller, this is still a heart-pounding drama.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Helen OHara
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
3/5

Simplistic in the extreme and riddled with clichés, the quality of its execution can't excuse the dubiousness of its premise.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/02/07
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
09/29/07
Screen International
Ratings Image
2/5

Berg struggles to blend rah-rah Top Gun heroics with spiky Bourne-style realism.

Full Review | comment 1 Comment
09/20/07
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image
3/5

With sporadic explosions and some elementary detective work, Peter Berg has made his Miami Vice.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/25/08
Chris Laverty
Mansized
Ratings Image
2/5

[I]t fails in its attempt to be a serious drama with important things to say about the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/01/08
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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