SYRIANA

(November 2005, U.S.)

The geopolitical thriller, in general, is often difficult to follow due to confusion created by numerous stories. Stephen Gaghan's film SYRIANA (he also wrote the film TRAFFIC) focuses on politics of petroleum and the global influence of the oil industry, whose political, legal, economic and social consequences are experienced by numerous people around the globe, including American, Middle East-based CIA operative Bob Barnes (played by George Clooney), American energy analyst Bryan Woodman (played by Matt Damon), Washington, D.C. attorney Bennett Holiday (played by Jeffrey Wright) and a young, unemployed migrant worker from Pakistan living in an Arab state in the Persian Gulf. In the background of these multiple character studies, U.S. energy giant Connex Oil is losing control of its key oil fiels in a Persian Gulf kingdom ruled by the powerful Al-Subaai family. The emirate's foreign minister, Prince Nasir (played by Alexander Siddig) has granted the rights to natural gas drilling to a company in China, which upsets our own U.S. oil industry and our government, as well. In order to compensate for its decreasing capacity in production, Connex Oil initiates a corrupt merger with a smaller oil company called Killen, that was recently awarded drilling rights to key petroleum fields in Kazakhstan (a country in Central Asia). Connex and Killen now rank as the world's twenty-third largest economy, which makes antitrust regulators at the the Department of Justice nervous, indeed. In D.C., a law firm headed by Dean Whiting (played by Christopher Plummer) is hired to try and smooth the way for the successful merger. Bennett is assigned to promote the outward impression of due diligence to the Department of Justice, hoping to deflect and allegations of corruption and illegal activity (all the while, dealing with his alcoholic and abusive father who keeps showing up at this door).

In the process of multiple stories all sharing the same theme of danger and intrigue, Bob Barnes is kidnapped and tortured, Bryan Woodman loses one of his children in a horrible swimming pool accident, Prince Nasir will ultimately perish in what seems like a disease of multiple car bombings, and the young, unemployed (and very susceptible) migrant worker will be recruited, brainwashed and trained for an act of post-9/11 terrorism on the Connex-Killen tanker, resembling the suicide bombing attack on the U.S.S Cole in October 2000, which is what ultimately concludes SYRIANA and its message to the world of where we currently stand.

As previously mentioned, all of this can be hard to follow. Hell, J.R. Ewing of DALLAS himself would have been scratching his head at the multiple takes on the oil business he knew so well! Still, if we can keep our minds focused on the general idea of a covert deal taking place between the United States and China involving oil being shipped through Kazakhstan, while operating under the deception of it coming from an alternate source, then perhaps you might just follow along with a problem. In fact, it's these elements of multiple characters and parallel storylines that can serve to make SYRIANA more intriguing as a motion picture, as we jump from locations in D.C., Texas, Spain, Switzerland and the Middle East to describe what can best be called "hyperlink" cinema. George Clooney's (one of the most haunting and hypnotic performances he's ever given) acts of American heroism takes us into his maze of intrigue and danger, and we can't help but keep ourselves focused as we follow along as best we can. In the end, the best we can hope to do, is presume that we're intelligent enough to follow an explosive tour of global politics, that in the end, is thought-provoking, mind-boggling and emotionally engaging. Still, we need to remember that SYRIANA is ultimately based on real global problems, including oil, energy, and the evil it provokes; problems that may never be resolved in our lifetime.

Favorite line or dialogue:

Bryan Woodman (to Prince Nasir): "You know what the business community thinks of you? They think that a hundred years ago you were living in tents out here in the desert chopping each other's heads off and that's where you'll be in another hundred years! So, yes, on behalf of my firm, I accept your money!"