The current situation in the Middle East has been a constant source of controversy in the last several years. Political unease within the troubled region as well as uncertain relations between the United States and many Middle Eastern countries remain a hot topic among world citizens, pundits and politicians alike. It seems director Peter Berg's "The Kingdom" could not have come at a better time.
This is far from another superfluous war movie that exhibits the zealous patriotism of some heroic American personage. It starts out educational; the credits begin with an amusingly graphical — if not alarmingly abridged — timeline that one might find in a class titled "History of Conflict in the Middle East 101." Inappropriately ending with the Sept. 11 attacks and making note that 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi, the credits lead us into another startling attack on civilian life in Saudi Arabia. However, this attack is in no way related to Sept. 11, so the correlation seems recklessly manipulative in establishing a clear "enemy."
"The Kingdom" is loosely based on the suicide bombings by Saudi terrorists that incurred severe civilian casualties in the capitol city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is a surprisingly gripping depiction of the sort of alarmingly frequent events in the Middle East most Americans tend to overlook in the modern media, perhaps simply because we hear about them so often.
But because the film is not expressly written as a historical drama, it better serves to move viewers through a hypothetical bombing — a bombing severe enough to rouse an investigation by an elite FBI squad sent over with the intent of eliminating those who carried out the attack. The team, composed of such familiar actors as the ever-astounding Jamie Foxx ("Dreamgirls") and the surprisingly versatile Jennifer Garner (TV's "Alias"), quickly encounters the bureaucratic entanglements that make the proper course of action exceedingly difficult. These scenes effectively highlight the strained international relations within the region while simultaneously pointing out both Saudi Arabia and America's inability to find any way to relate to each other. In the Middle East, it seems, there is no middle ground.
As the team begins to properly carry out its mission, it is quickly revealed that it is targeted by the terrorists as well. At this point the film becomes rather discouraging in its portrayal of death-ridden action sequences that place America on the typical moral high ground. It was as if the film had fallen back into the realm of standardized war movies. It was even making excessive use of that obnoxiously trendy handheld camera look. The final moments of the film, however, take this glorification of violence and vengeance and audaciously throw it in the face of the viewer in a surprisingly simple way. By suggesting that we all have a deeply rooted, though often baseless need for revenge, it is indescribably effective in underscoring our commonalities as humans, whether we are American, Saudi, terrorist or peace-seeker.
This theme of basic humanity is well-documented throughout the film. Partially through the use of intercuts between the families of the American protagonists and those of the Saudi terrorists, "The Kingdom" makes a bold statement in pointing out that each group is only doing what it believes to be right and righteous. And those morals are indeed highly subjective.
4 stars out of 5
