i remember seeing trailers in the theatres for the kingdom at least six months ago. and only now is it being released, which probably means that the movie was having problems in the post-production stage. most likely, the ending wasn't testing well and the producers and movie studios were having issues, so they probably decided that it needed to be reshot and consequently its release delayed.whatever the case, the kingdom is now being hailed as a strong possibility to receive an oscar nominee for best picture, among other awards. as far i can tell, i can't disagree with that claim, but i do find it dubious that a picture can go from problematic to oscar worthy with a few reshoots, if that is the case [and i believe it is].
the kingdom does feature a fairly strong cast, which includes jamie foxx, jennifer garner and the underrated chris cooper [i know he's won an oscar, but he's still underrated]. i don't know how jamie foxx went from his earlier work to an oscar, but it happened somehow. if they were some kind of hgh for actors, the mpaa needs to test him for this. [by the way, i'm glad he doesn't think he's ray charles anymore.] jennifer garner, who at first i thought was strangely miscast, is probably the right choice to play her character. she looks tough enough to play an fbi agent, but she's also pretty enough to look extremely vulnerable in an iraqi setting [which is probably what the director was seeking]. then there is chris cooper, who has become one of the today's finest american actors. if you have doubts about this claim, watch him in any of his movies.
what can prevent this movie from being great is it being too political [i know a movie set in iraq is going to be political, but there is such a thing as overkill]. also, it worries me that the director, peter berg, is rather inexperienced with being at the helm of a movie. but then again, there have been some people with little experience who won oscars for best director in one of their first turns. at any rate, the kingdom seems like one of those films where it looks to make a statement with its subject matter, but instead it will be the work of its cast that will shine the brightest.
prognosis: 8/10
3 comments:
i don't plan on seeing this unless someone else sees it and tells me that it's really not all that political. because if it is, i just know i wouldn't have the tolerance for it, or rather, i would not find it entertaining. but i agree this looks like a good cast so i expect the acting would be solid. 8/10 is a safe bet.
this looks like it's going to be a good movie. actually the real reason it was pushed back to the fall is because the film had such good screen testing reviews, the studio wanted to push it back to a more fall release date so it could be more of an oscar contender instead of being bunched in with the summer movies like rush hour and superbad.
and i think this movie will turn jamie foxx into the younger fresher denzel washington. look out for deju-vu 2 starting jamie foxx next summer. i love this job. who-rah.
the editor and i stand by the story.
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