"The Kingdom"makes an effort to portray the complexity of the Middle East and our uneasy alliance with Saudi Arabia with an entertaining story as a backdrop. The film succeeds in doing just that on many levels. Not only is the story-line entertaining, but it manages to tackle this subject matter without being preachy and certainly without being black and white. The film begins with a terrorist attack on Saudi soil against an American contractors' family compound. The terrorists manage to do so using Saudi police uniforms, which also helps to build mistrust. Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) is the leader of an elite FBI team who is pressuring his bosses to get his team in there to investigate. They manage to get that invite, but it is clear that they are not really welcome. Fleury's tense relationship with Sergeant Haytham (Ali Suliman) of the Saudi police serves as the microcosm of the American-Saudi relationship. Each of them is never quite sure he can trust the other. The film has great performances by Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman. Jamie Foxx, however, stands out most of all. He proves his acting in "Ray" was no fluke. So, in essence, you get a tense, entertaining drama with great performances and excellent storytelling, while at the same time getting a bit of a lesson on global politics, especially as it applies to the Middle East.Grade: B
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