So, I live next within walking distance of an AMC Theater and it’s definitely the end of me. Wednesday night, I took a walk after dinner that turned into a double feature. Actually, it started off we me just thinking, “I’ll catch a movie real quick. Don’t have anything else to do tonight.” However, the first film I saw left me with such a bad taste in my mouth, I just couldn’t go to sleep without finding something to cleanse my cinematic palette.
So The Kingdom started off promising. The title sequence was actually pretty unique. In a history channel meets MTV kind of montage, the filmmakers managed to set the stage for the story quickly without bombarding the audience with information—well, you do have to read pretty fast.
The first twenty minutes developed an interesting “political thriller”-esque plot with the State Department and FBI in a power struggle over how to deal with a terrorist attack on American civilians in Saudi Arabia. However, things deteriorate once the FBI team, led by Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx), lands on Saudi soil. The plot quickly transgressed to gratuitous car chases and gunplay. I really can’t complain about a little bit of action thrown in to step up the third act, but I was really disappointed with the level of gratuitousness. The Saudi characters had no depth or motivation. At times I was reminded of the one-dimensional Russian villains of Cold War-era Bond films or even the mysterious terrorists of the first Die Hard movie. This comparison was especially true in the offensively predictable outcome of the final battle. The story would have been better served by more complex characters that could communicate the human motivations behind the violence.
The very last scene was actually a bit redeeming with a somewhat insightful “comparison of the bloodlust of the American FBI agents and the Saudi terrorists,” as noted by the LA Times.
All in all, the second film was much more satisfying. In the Valley of Elah tells the story of a father’s search for his son who is AWOL from the Army after returning from Iraq. Unlike The Kingdom, it never pretended to comment on the politics of the American presence in the Middle East. Although, it is technically a whodunit, In the Valley of Elah was much more character focused. As the plot unravels, it paints a gut-wrenching image of how war irreversibly changes young men.
Private Deerfield disappears just before the movie begins. And throughout the film, the character exists only in the corrupted video retrieved from his cell phone viewed through the rose-colored glasses of his father, meticulously played by Tommy Lee Jones. For a crime drama, the crime is solved with very little flash; it is the subtle change of the father’s image of his son that drives the true climax.
Although moviefone has picked In the Valley of Elah as an early Oscar pick, Jones’ character is a little sterile to gather widespread praise. Charlize Theron’s lead detective could get her nominated for best supporting actress, but it’s still pretty early. Paul Haggis may stand the best chance; his direction was definitely superior to his Oscar-nominated effort for Crash.
Aaron’s picks:
The Kigdom
So The Kingdom started off promising. The title sequence was actually pretty unique. In a history channel meets MTV kind of montage, the filmmakers managed to set the stage for the story quickly without bombarding the audience with information—well, you do have to read pretty fast.
The first twenty minutes developed an interesting “political thriller”-esque plot with the State Department and FBI in a power struggle over how to deal with a terrorist attack on American civilians in Saudi Arabia. However, things deteriorate once the FBI team, led by Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx), lands on Saudi soil. The plot quickly transgressed to gratuitous car chases and gunplay. I really can’t complain about a little bit of action thrown in to step up the third act, but I was really disappointed with the level of gratuitousness. The Saudi characters had no depth or motivation. At times I was reminded of the one-dimensional Russian villains of Cold War-era Bond films or even the mysterious terrorists of the first Die Hard movie. This comparison was especially true in the offensively predictable outcome of the final battle. The story would have been better served by more complex characters that could communicate the human motivations behind the violence.
The very last scene was actually a bit redeeming with a somewhat insightful “comparison of the bloodlust of the American FBI agents and the Saudi terrorists,” as noted by the LA Times.
All in all, the second film was much more satisfying. In the Valley of Elah tells the story of a father’s search for his son who is AWOL from the Army after returning from Iraq. Unlike The Kingdom, it never pretended to comment on the politics of the American presence in the Middle East. Although, it is technically a whodunit, In the Valley of Elah was much more character focused. As the plot unravels, it paints a gut-wrenching image of how war irreversibly changes young men.
Private Deerfield disappears just before the movie begins. And throughout the film, the character exists only in the corrupted video retrieved from his cell phone viewed through the rose-colored glasses of his father, meticulously played by Tommy Lee Jones. For a crime drama, the crime is solved with very little flash; it is the subtle change of the father’s image of his son that drives the true climax.
Although moviefone has picked In the Valley of Elah as an early Oscar pick, Jones’ character is a little sterile to gather widespread praise. Charlize Theron’s lead detective could get her nominated for best supporting actress, but it’s still pretty early. Paul Haggis may stand the best chance; his direction was definitely superior to his Oscar-nominated effort for Crash.
Aaron’s picks:
The Kigdom
(2/5)
(4/5)
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