Jamie Foxx kicks ass for America in The Kingdom, an action film loosely inspired by real events

A softball game is interrupted when terrorists forcibly break into an American housing compound in Saudi Arabia, open fire and set off a series of homemade bombs. Hundreds die, including an FBI agent. Back in the U.S., a group of FBI agents learn of the attack and the death of their colleague. The U.S. government, fearing an international incident, says no to an on-site investigation, but a small team of special agents negotiate a secret five-day mission to Riyadh.

When they land, a Saudi officer, Colonel Al-Ghazi. is assigned to keep the team out of trouble and safe for photo ops. Luckily, he is soon persuaded to help the Americans investigate, guiding them shrewdly through the intricacies of Saudi culture and politics. Some CSI-style detective work leads the team into the lair of an extremist sect, and the action builds to a bloody climax.

The Kingdom is based on an actual incident, the 2003 Riyadh compound bombings, though it takes liberties with factual evidence. The real attacks occurred on three western housing compounds inhabited by a variety of nationalities. Twenty-six people died, including nine Americans. The Saudi government condemned the attack and soon after began a crackdown on terrorist activity, arresting over 600 suspected terrorists and raiding arms caches around the country. Less than a month after the bombings took place, the Saudi government released a statement naming 12 al-Qaida members as the perpetrators.

In the film, the bombs kill hundreds of Americans. The Saudis are incapable of conducting a proper investigation, but four American FBI agents are able to crack the case within the limits of their five-day mission. This skewing of facts might be a problem if The Kingdom wasn’t an action movie, pure and simple, and a satisfying one at that. Its action sequences are gripping, the plot is well-paced, the comedic moments are genuinely funny and the slightly offbeat casting is refreshing.

Jamie Foxx plays the typical American agent — a good father and husband out to hunt the bad guys and protect his country — but with a little bit of attitude and a sincere sense of morality. Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman and Chris Cooper follow suit, upholding the rah-rah America sentiments, but embracing their characters (nobody embodies a character like Cooper) and lending comic relief. Jeremy Piven, in a superfluous role, plays Ari Gold in the Middle East, with a tan and political savvy. Colonel Al-Ghazi, played brilliantly by Ashraf Barhoum, is one of the film’s standout characters — smart, funny, likable and human — and not rendered two-dimensional as many Saudis in this movie are.

Despite its grounding in fact and the timely issues it deals with, The Kingdom is not the political commentary it aspires to be. It is a great action movie, though — well-paced with an absorbing storyline and good high-stakes conflict sequences.