The movie opens with a fascinating credit sequence that provides a capsule history of Saudi Arabia from the 1930s (when oil was discovered beneath its arid surface) to September 11, 2001. This is followed by a seemingly idyllic setting: men, women, and children enjoying a softball game at a picnic. It's what one might expect to see anywhere in America, except this is Riyadh, in a secure community where foreign oil workers live with their families. Terrorists have decided to use this event as a chance to capture the world's attention. Posing as policemen, suicide bombers get into the compound and blow themselves up - taking more than 100 people with them, including two FBI agents. The reverberations are felt in Washington, where agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) is readying his forensic team for an on-site investigation. With him are Janet Mayes (Jennifer Garner), a pathologist; Adam Leavitt (Jason Bateman), a computer geek; and Grant Sykes (Chris Cooper), an explosives expert. After some political arm twisting, Ronald is allowed to fly to The Kingdom, but only after he agrees to be babysat by local police colonel Al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhom), who's more interested in not making waves than in solving the crime.
It gives us a rousing, jarring opening that pulls us into the story. Then he dials things down for a while. The political and investigative aspects of the movie are fascinating to observe, but they aren't the sort of things to get the heart racing. Nevertheless, there's a sense of urgency. We see tensions between the Saudi police and the army, the Americans have only five days and are being kept on a tight leash, and there are indications that the terrorists may be planning a follow-up attack, possibly targeting the new arrivals. As the FBI unearths clues about how the first bombing was orchestrated and interviews witnesses, men are shown assembling more explosives. The last 30 minutes of The Kingdom is balls-to-the-wall action.

The Kingdom is a hard film to pigeonhole because it crosses genres so freely. The pacing is also a little unwieldy. Those who are there for the higher octane elements may distracted during the lengthy investigative section. And those who are hoping for something with the heft and complexity of Syriana may find the all-action conclusion to be a little too loud (not to mention that the resolution hinges on couple of minor contrivances). Overall, however, the film is smart and engaging, and if it plays a little on our fears of the next big terrorist attack, it does so without feeling exploitative.