Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

... he can’t keep his mind on nothin’ else. He’ll brave the talkbacks if they put it down.

Seriously, this guy flipped out for this movie. Peter Berg’s always been a solid filmmaker, in my opinion, and his earlier films like THE RUNDOWN or (especially) FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS certainly have their fans.

So did he knock it out of the ballpark with this one? Check out what one viewer had to say:

(Note - if you're the type that hates positive reviews, you might want to skip this. I consider this one of the best films I've seen in recent memory and will likely top my "Best of 2007" list)

Tonight in Sherman Oaks was a test screening of Peter Berg's THE KINGDOM. I don't know if this was the first test screening for the film or not. The guy who usually tells us whether we are "the first to see it" or "one of the first" or "the first west coast audience" or "the only people left in California who haven't seen this already" (I think that ones just for Knocked Up though) skipped that part entirely.

Either way it was the most 'finished' film I have ever seen for a test screening. Other than the temp score (which was from Berg's own Friday Night Lights, or at least other (equally great) Explosions in the Sky music, the final will be Danny Elfman), the film was finished as far as my eyes could tell. We even got a full blown opening credits sequence, which itself was just as excellent as the rest of the film. In addition to learning that being in two scenes (Jeremy Piven) can get you billed over a guy that's on camera throughout almost the entire movie (Ashraf Barhom), we are given a sort of recap of the history of oil and in turn our relationship with Saudi Arabia, via stock footage, graphics, etc. It's a fantastic opener, I almost wanted to applaud it.

Luckily the rest of the film was just as compelling. After a multi-stage attack on Saudi soil that leaves several Americans dead, a group of American FBI agents (Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Chris Cooper, and Jason Bateman) fly over to Saudi Arabia (without official permission from the FBI or the Saudi government) to investigate the bombing and try to find those responsible. They are aided by Colonel Al-Ghazi (Barhom), who at first seems to be trying to prevent them from doing their job but is in reality just trying to keep them from upsetting the wrong people. Eventually he aids their investigation and becomes a useful ally.

The most surprising thing about the movie is how short it is. It clocks in at under 1:45, which is unheard of for a political thriller. At one point a character is put in extreme jeopardy (think Daniel Pearl), and one would assume that he/she will perish, leading to a third act of "now it's personal" style action and suspense. Instead, we get a couple of quick surprises, and then bam! The movie is over (and ends on a truly chilling notion). But this is not a slight against the film, quite the opposite, it is a relief to see a film accomplish so much in a condensed time, rather than drag itself out. In fact, the film can almost be seen as having only two acts: The investigation and the action sequence (its a long sequence that rivals/surpasses any 'realistic' action sequence in modern history, combining a car chase, a shootout, and a rescue without ever resorting to Bruckheimer style superheroics). The car crash alone that begins the chase sequence tops anything Bay or Scott have done.

Berg has now provided us with 4 films, each one of the best modern examples of their respective subgenres. Very Bad Things (black comedy), The Rundown (buddy action), Friday Night Lights (sports drama) and now this (political thriller). So far each of his films has been better than the one before, a tradition that continues here (and then some - he may have topped himself here). The acting is top notch across the board, and surprising considering the subject matter, the film is often humorous (mostly Bateman's doing, but Foxx and Cooper have a few laugh out loud lines as well). You can't call the film "funny", but sort of like A Few Good Men, its a serious drama that manages to elicit more laughs than most actual comedies via well placed (and well delivered) off the cuff lines.

Call me a plant, fine, but this remains the only film I have seen at a test screening that I honestly had zero issues with. I even rated it excellent, which I've only done once before (for Knocked Up). See it for yourself in September and you'll know I was right.

BC