Preview: The Kingdom (2007)

• Poster: C

Review:

There's not much to this poster. The Arabs in the foreground are clearly blocking the characters from the audience, which does two things. It symbolizes the struggle of the characters in the film and it represents how disconnected the audience could feel from the main characters if the film doesn't do its job.

• Trailer: B-; C+; C

Review:

The trailer started off promising and then Jamie Foxx showed up. From there, it become just another typical CIA investgation thriller with a tinge of anti-Arab sentiment.

Further proof that tampering with a preview to make it longer and more enticing is a bad thing. The Kingdom already looked too much like an action flick to be insightful. Now it looks too much like an action film and not enough like the message film it's trying to be.

The more I see, the more disinterested I become. Action films mixed with some political intrigue don't often work and Foxx isn't the kind of actor to pull it off. He was, after all, the least interesting part of Collateral.

Oscar Prospects:

Could there be any more of an Oscar baiting film? If it weren't for the fact that the film looks more like Deja-Vu than it should, this has the promise of proving irresistable to the Academy. However, I doubt that will be the case.

Release Date:

• September 28, 2007

Full Review Synopsis:

I have not seen this film.

-Wesley Lovell (May 12, 2007) Original

-Wesley Lovell (August 4, 2007) New Trailer