THE KINGDOM [R]
The investigation by FBI experts Jamie Foxx (Miami Vice), Chris Cooper (Breach), Jennifer Garner (“Alias”) and Jason Bateman (Smokin’ Aces) of the bombing of an American housing complex in Saudi Arabia propel the story in this CSI whodunit to an astounding third act, a tense, three-stage action blowout with few cinematic equals. Director Peter Berg, whose popular 2004 football drama Friday Night Lights led to a hit TV series adaptation, balances the politics and action with a nice sense of drama, particularly the touching rapport shared by Foxx’s outraged family man and Saudi proxy, a cop played sensitively by Ashraf Barhom (Paradise Now). The film looks great, too, with production designer Tom Duffield helping Berg and Lions for Lambs writer Matthew Michael Carnahan create a palpable sense of place, a place that is both alien and foreboding. His Arizona backlot creation that doubles for the Saudi neighborhood-turned-battle zone (the real-life counterpart of which was off-limits to the production) is incredible, and is a star itself. Berg’s solid dramatic mystery may not be as high-minded as fellow war commentary In the Valley of Elah, but it is still comfortably thought provoking and very entertaining. –Robert Newton