Syriana (4 of 5): Okay, first things first. Syriana is a very confusing movie. It will challenge you to keep up, and more than likely wear out your remote as you continually pause the film to figure things out. This movie moves at a fast and relentless pace and expects the audience to have some general, if not intermediate, knowledge of business, government, law and politics. These issues don’t keep Syriana from being a great film though. This movie tells an overall story about oil in the middle east by interweaving five smaller story lines: 1) the story of two US oil companies and the US Department of Justice’s inquiry into their merger; 2) the story of a dedicated CIA field agent assigned to assassinate a middle-eastern Prince; 3) the story of that Prince and his efforts to build his country off the wealth of his oil; 4) the story of a successful young commodities trader and his employment by the Prince in the middle-east; and 5) the story Pakistanis who join a fundamentalist group after being fired from a US owned oil company. All of these stories come together at the end like some sort of 6 degrees of separation puzzle, but it is a complicated ride. However, if you can get over that aspect of the film, this movie does a great job of dramatizing all the intricacies and back-room politics of the oil industry. It attempts to pull away the veil that is too often cast over the public’s eyes by the media, corporations and political officials in their constant spin of the truth, and I think it succeeds in doing so while maintaining a certain degree of anonymity for its fictionalized characters and locals. You’ll feel worn out afterward, but Syraia is worth watching.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Movie Review - Syriana
Syriana (4 of 5): Okay, first things first. Syriana is a very confusing movie. It will challenge you to keep up, and more than likely wear out your remote as you continually pause the film to figure things out. This movie moves at a fast and relentless pace and expects the audience to have some general, if not intermediate, knowledge of business, government, law and politics. These issues don’t keep Syriana from being a great film though. This movie tells an overall story about oil in the middle east by interweaving five smaller story lines: 1) the story of two US oil companies and the US Department of Justice’s inquiry into their merger; 2) the story of a dedicated CIA field agent assigned to assassinate a middle-eastern Prince; 3) the story of that Prince and his efforts to build his country off the wealth of his oil; 4) the story of a successful young commodities trader and his employment by the Prince in the middle-east; and 5) the story Pakistanis who join a fundamentalist group after being fired from a US owned oil company. All of these stories come together at the end like some sort of 6 degrees of separation puzzle, but it is a complicated ride. However, if you can get over that aspect of the film, this movie does a great job of dramatizing all the intricacies and back-room politics of the oil industry. It attempts to pull away the veil that is too often cast over the public’s eyes by the media, corporations and political officials in their constant spin of the truth, and I think it succeeds in doing so while maintaining a certain degree of anonymity for its fictionalized characters and locals. You’ll feel worn out afterward, but Syraia is worth watching.
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