The Kingdom

Terrorists bomb a compound in Saudi Arabia that houses United States citizens, and an enterprising group of FBI agents travel to The Kingdom, as it's called, to investigate. And along the way, the cultures clash. This sounded like a recipe for a heavy-handed borefest or a cliche-ridden "Crash"-esque Hollywood exploration of the oneness of man.

So surprising, then, that the movie was so good. It was filmed in the now popular Greengrassian style of "United 93" and "The Bourne Ultimatum," but it didn't feel imitated or schticky. The interactions between the Americans and the Saudis were for the most part free of stereotypes and banal, contrived dialogue. And it never forgot that it was first and foremost an action movie. The bombing sequence in the beginning and especially the chase and shootout at the end were top-notch. The middle was taken up with the investigation, and the movie used this time well, not merely going through the motions but developing the characters, such as the Saudi Faris Al Ghazi, and exploring the difference in cultures.

Jason Bateman continues his great movie career thus far. He had one of the most memorable performances of the year in "Smokin' Aces," an otherwise unmemorable movie. And here he plays a wisecracking FBI agent whose humor never overwhelms the other actors or distracts from the movie. Chris Cooper continues to find himself in good movies -- "Syriana" and "The Bourne Identity" -- though I still don't like him as an actor. And Peter Berg's job directing confirmed what I thought about "Friday Night Lights" -- that the problem with that movie was not the director, but rather the actors and the script. Berg's got some decent movies in his future, given the right tools.

The movie was not without its problems, though. For one thing, there were times where actors, especially Jamie Foxx, would talk fast and quiet and it was impossible to hear what they were saying. Subtitles could have cured this, but we shouldn't have to watch a film with subtitles. The plot, especially towards the end, descended into the very predictable. Also, the movie worked so well at developing the character of the Saudi investigator, Faris, that it makes you wonder why the film could not have developed more Saudi characters. This is kind of like the problem in "The Last Samurai." The best parts of that movie were the Japanese actors and their storyline; the American, Tom Cruise, slowed the whole thing down and detracted from the film. In that case, why not just make a movie without the American? "The Kingdom" is different since the story was about the interplay between the cultures, whereas "The Last Samurai" was about how Americans taught the Japanese everything they know. But still, the question remains, why not give more face time to non-American actors, especially if they're up to the task?

Nevertheless, a thoroughly impressive movie, especially considering its mediocre reviews and the fact that Jennifer Garner was in it.