Syriana
George Clooney (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and Golden Globe for his role) plays CIA operative Bob Barnes in this political thriller by Stephen Gaghan. America is at the beck and call of the Middle East when it comes to the oil industry, and all its players -- Washington, sheiks, oil companies, field workers -- intersect with each other. The star-studded cast includes Matt Damon, Amanda Peet, Chris Cooper and Christopher Plummer.
Feedgeist
» Currently at the homes of 12 people
» Queued up by 718 people
skc 1124979 cbv 1654053 pnz 1655476 rcc 1898009 CG 408883 CT 916496 KD 945389 qdy 6802 AC 1320605 TB 305689 vbh 1708714 CP 1854773 AC 265082 Ebee jyw 323557 JonathanNolen BF 1353186 acn 1231449 hbn 1744064 iyr 1598665 vwq 632719 Manzabar JR 1932693 RW 1374070 JC 544544 CS 909783 gxk 828823 MF 1952113 JS 305957 AY 1012147 mjc 1475751 AM 182399 CM 1544117 BB 1451657 Andyroyd fcp 1419757 DH 1026599 semanticantics hcm 637358 JF 1394866 ZW 91533 Nerdsavant SP 1597839 tqu 1946350 qgv 271098 BB 1872148 BB 1268018 CaptJackSparrow MS 1462836 mrb712 BR 45010 yiq 102690 Up to 50 people shown» Reviewed by 9 people
Why this sorry exercise has garnered such critical praise is beyond me. The storyline is all over the place, the pacing is glacial and the message is blatantly obvious to anyone who has been paying the slightest attention to U.S. foreign policy. Yes, both public and private U.S. interests have been screwing with the Middle East for decades; is this supposed to be news?- Philo_Kvetch
Get a notebook and take notes while watching this movie if you want to be sure you get what is going on. I really wanted to like this movie, based on positive reviews and plot outlines, but I just seriously could not keep things straight. There are many different storylines in this movie that all revolve around a central focus, and they tend to jump around at random intervals just when I figured out what was going on. The acting was superb, with the exception of the lawyer(?) I think he was? Count the number of scenes where he has a blank look on his face. Again, I really tried to understand and enjoy this movie, but it took way too much effort for me to just barely get the jist of things by the time the story was wrapping up.
- Joe Bagadonuts
very good to excellent. Though somitemis confusing and hard to follow - it gives a glimpse at reality of the complex world we live in. Who would say that politics is not confusing? Who would argue that US oil interests influence lives of all people in the Syriana region?
- webmovies
I've got to say - I was a bored. No clue where the Oscars were coming from. Clooney wasn't in the film enough to warrant an Oscar. He's great in general, but this film did not deliver. After some time in reflection, I understand the 'point' of the movie, and the idea it's trying to relay to it's audience, however I just wasn't entertained. There were a few key moments that made me almost care about the characters - in the end my recommendation: It's not worth your time.
- 427
I guess I'm just not into the happenings of the world. after the end of the movie i had no idea what i just watched or what the point was.
- RP 473536
A deft dramatization of geopolitics in the age of oil, Syriana drops the viewer into the middle of the action with very little explanation of what's happening and why. This is a purist's choice, one meant to establish realism. However, after making that choice, the director occassionally gives his characters soap box moments better suited for a stage play than this kind of film. The director, for all his effort to avoid choosing sides and pointing fingers, in the end resorts to stock characters, such as Clooney's nobel spy betrayed by the very country he loves, to bring the movie to a tidy dramatic closure. Overall, a good film, but not quite as uncompromising and powerful as the underrated The Constant Gardener.
- BB 1097277
Am I really smart? All I heard about this movie was how twisted and incomprehensible the plot was. I watched this movie once and everything made sense to me from start to finish. It's a great movie, strong acting, and a plot and writing that doesn't fall into the typical hand holding of most American movies. Maybe that is the problem? Americans have gotten so use to stupid movies that treat viewers like idiots, theydon't even know what to do with a movie that asks them to pay a little attention.
- AB 1890122
Pop quiz, everybody. Question One. Who today is blowing up innocent people in an effort to thwart democracy, womens rights and economic development in the Middle East? Easy, right? But if your answer was "fanatical Islamic terrorists," then youre obviously not a Hollywood producer. Now, Question Two. Knowing what we know about Hollywood, can we make a wild guess as to who a Hollywood producer might imagine was blowing up innocent people and trying to thwart democracy, womens rights and economic development in the Middle East? Yep, this time you got it. Its the CIA in league, of course, with big American oil companies. To anyone not caught up in Hollywoods curious brand of politically obtuse paranoia, the premiss of Stephen Gaghans Syriana would be laughable, but American movie audiences, which must be the most undemanding in the world, simply take it in their stride. Well sure, they say. Its a movie. Who else would you expect the villain to be? __Gaghans film is supposed to have been "suggested by" Robert Baers, See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism. But Baers book is critical of the CIA for not being more aggressive in the pursuit of Islamic terrorism, not an account of how it conspires with Big Oil to assassinate enlightened Arab leaders. In the film, the CIA/Big Oil view is not only that the aim of American diplomacy is to maximize oil profits but also that those profits will continue to be maximized "provided there is still chaos in the Middle East." Who, outside of Hollywood or the loony left, ever believed that? And who that knew anything about the current insurgency in Iraq could continue to believe it? But then that could be one of the problems with making a film torn from the headlines of 30-odd years ago rather than today.
- Dean2006@Hollywood
Syriana expects a lot from its audience, perhaps too much, judging from the number of negative reviews. This is a film that seems to expect that you come into it at least somewhat informed about the state of the world, or at least take the interest afterwards to find out. This is a much better film than Traffic (which was ruined by Steven Soderbergh; Best Director, my rear end) and infinitely better than Gaghan's debut directorial effort, "Abandon." Syriana does not tell a particularly original story, but the specific subject matter is fresh, and the story is told with immediacy. Not enough time is spent with anyone from the fine ensemble cast to win anyone any Best Actor Oscars, but the touches of personal life Gaghan writes for each character is enough to make you care. And this is a movie that should make you care, or at least make you think.
- LB in Idaho