The Kingdom should pass on the politics

Movies designed to be “of the moment” face a significant hurdle: Go breezy on the intricacies of the material and risk eggheaded wrath; get cerebral and watch the general audiences scatter. Much like the similarly themed In the Valley of Elah, The Kingdom is a Big, Important movie that feels much more successful when it downshifts into a simple genre picture—in this case, a rock ’em, sock ’em action flick. Given the relevance of its subject matter, this is a bit of a problem.

Matthew Michael Carnahan’s script follows a vengeance-minded FBI forensics team (consisting of Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and the dependably awesome Jason Bateman) investigating a suicide bombing at an American compound in Saudi Arabia with the aid of a sympathetic local cop (Paradise Now’s marvelous Ashraf Barhom, doing what he can with his character’s flashcard characterization). Director Peter Berg apes the playbook of his producer Michael Mann to a T (characters existentially defined by their jobs, check; over-the-shoulder subjective shots, check), but with precious little of the single-minded fluidity that makes Mann, well, Mann. As a result, the narrative’s combination of deep character moments and well-researched info dumps clunks along more awkwardly than it should. (On a side note, anyone who was nauseated by The Bourne Ultimatum’s constant shaky-cam would be well advised to hit the Dramamine beforehand.)

Cinematically speaking, Berg seems on much surer ground with the final act, a bravura extended action sequence that plays out like a genuinely angry revenge fantasy. As cathartic as it is in the moment, though, the sudden depiction of the enemy as faceless killing machines raises some weird questions about the ultimate intent of the movie. Is it a provocative, ripped-from-the-headlines think piece, or a jingoistic, squib-happy ass-kicker? Pick a card, folks.

THE KINGDOM DIR. PETER BERG | RATED R | AT THEATERS EVERYWHERE FRIDAY