The Kingdom : One step forward
For those expecting a clear indepth understanding by Hollywood of the complexity of terrorism by making a movie that views it inside out and outside in… grab you popcorn and walk out. For those moderates who have resigned themselves that Hollywood should change it’s name to Money&Wood cause of the pinheaded intelligence it shows us every Friday with marked precision, there may be something to rejoice.
The Kingdom directed by Peter Berg and screenplay by Matthew Michael Carnahan (who’s also written the soon to release Lions for Lambs), is first and foremost a thriller, that rides on the current wave of newspaper headlines, issues and most of what that hogs the tube on your telly. The second layer beneath though as feeble as it may be to hard core purists, does not fail to surprise. The other side of terrorism. The regions where it grows like a never ending weed, through the roads and streets, homes and stores, work and leisure… through the common threaded life of the common man who’s simple dreams still lie in having a relaxed evening with the family and playing with his children.
And that’s what Colonel Al Gazi and Segeant Haytham do. Lead simple lives. Do their jobs and go home. The difference is they work in Saudi Arabia, the place which gave us atleast 15 of the 9/11 terrorists.
The Kingdom has patches of brilliance. The way it opens up to show the history of Saudi Arabia is absolutely essential and now becomes an integral part of the film. Of course from some point of you it is a quick history lesson to many of the shockingly ignorant about world history and politics in the West. Job well done. But rather than move deeper, kind of the “Syriana” way (which to clarify was not according to me as great as it has been made out to be by friends and family)… The Kingdom gets trapped in the typical Hollywood cliches… such as
The opening sequence where two scenes run in parallel. The bad guys about to strike in Saudi while the good guys are having a oh cho chweet time at their children’s school appearing as a guest teacher. That they are the FBI or CIA or such, is only a matter of time before their regular day job is revealed to us. By Jove we didn’t know that!
Berg periodically falls into such cliched moments, and miraculously replaces such duds with sharp edgy scenes that have dialogues that hit you right in the middle of the eye… like the one where Colonel Gazi looks at FBI team lead Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) to point blank point his ignorace at Gazi’s own personal tragedy “You lost two men, I lost 77″.
This isn’t a movie that should be brushed aside as another flick that titillates (which it does) and races ahead (which it does) going on mindlessly (it doesn’t!)
The human factor from both the sides is brought forward, the scenes of Gazi and Haytham’s time with their families is giving a surprisingly sensitive look and time. While the nourishing terrorism acts in the hearts of innocent kids is passed on in a blink and you miss speed. Yet, there are moments which again to Berg’s credit are different and create the necessary eye opening impact… like the way he closes the movie… the same sentence is spoken on the two sides… when Foxx tells Jason Bateman what he whispered to Garner in the ear and at the other end in Saudi Arabia the innocent kid who tells his mom what his grandfather told him… same words, different impacts. That was one of those smashing moments in the movie.
Before closing up, a special mention needs to be made to the 30 minute or so climax which is just airtight and hardly allows you any breathing space. It brings back memories of the way some of the best action sequences in war scenes has been handled by the ever so efficient at this - Hollywood. I was consistently trying to compare the grip of the climax to “Black Hawk Down” which in my books has one of the most gripping sequences where it placed you the viewer right in the center of the battle. Berg in The Kingdom does the same.
The cast from the American side do their stuff without any problems Foxx, Garner, Bateman and Chris Cooper. But it’s the angst, struggle and frustrations of Gazi and Haytham played by Ashraf Barhoum and Ali Suliman, that have surprisingly been captured quite well and the characters would have been slaughtered had not Barhoum and Suliman given it that right touch, the importantly required held back balance.
B Plus. The Kingdom may not have made any earth shattering moves, but by Hollywood standards, it’s a step forward, in the right direction.
