The Kingdom

A torn-from-today's-headlines thriller set in Saudi Arabia, The Kingdom adopts a jingoistic tone that may put off politically progressive viewers, but the film will delight mainstream audiences with its explosive action and riveting suspense. When an infamous terrorist bombs an American housing compound in Riyadh—killing and wounding hundreds—the FBI secretly details a crack team of investigators (Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman) to gather evidence before the dust settles. Diplomatic strings are pulled, but the Americans are really aided—reluctantly—by a Saudi colonel (Ashraf Barhom) who would like to see justice done but resents the intrusion of these foreign meddlers. What starts out as CSI: Riyadh turns into a gripping action thriller when Bateman's character is kidnapped by terrorists and his fellow team members race to the rescue, guns blazing. Director Peter Berg and cinematographer Mauro Fiore use jumpy camerawork and jagged editing to maintain a cinéma vérité feel, and the film's last half hour is undeniably exciting as the surrounded Foxx and company try to shoot their way to freedom. The Kingdom might not be enlightening, but it sure is entertaining. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Peter Berg, a 36-minute production featurette, a “Constructing the Freeway Sequence” segment (18 min.), a “Character by Character: The Apartment Shootout” scene-specific featurette (14 min.), 11 minutes of deleted scenes, an interactive historical timeline, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a solid action thriller.] (E. Hulse)[Blu-ray Review—Nov. 25, 2008—Universal, 111 min., R, $28.95—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2003's The Kingdom boasts a great transfer and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound. Blu-ray extras are almost identical to those on the standard DVD release, including audio commentary by director Peter Berg, a 36-minute production featurette, an 18-minute segment on the “Constructing the Freeway” sequence, a “Character by Character: The Apartment Shootout” scene-specific featurette (14 min.), 11 minutes of deleted scenes, an interactive historical timeline, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray version is the U-Control feature with a “Mission Dossier” that provides notes and background information during the film, “Surveillance” with high-tech 3-D visualizations, and a picture-in-picture interactive track with more behind-the-scenes footage and cast interviews. Bottom line: a decent thriller that looks and sounds better in Blu.]