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Description
Syriana is an oil-based soap opera set against the world of global oil cartels. It is to the oil industry as Traffic was to the drug trade (no surprise, since writer/director Stephen Gaghan wrote the screenplay to Traffic):
a sprawling attempt to portray the vast political, business, social,
and personal implications of a societal addiction, in this case, oil. A
major merger between two of the world’s largest oil companies reveals
ethical dilemmas for the lawyer charged with making the deal (Jeffrey
Wright), and major global implications Beyond the obvious; a CIA
operative (George Clooney) discovers the truth about his work, and the
people he works for; a young oil broker (Matt Damon) encounters personal
tragedy, then partners with an idealistic Gulf prince (Alexander
Siddig) attempting to build a new economy for his people, only to find
he’s opposed by powers far beyond his control. Meanwhile,
disenfranchised Pakistani youths are lured into terrorism by a radical
Islamic cleric. And that’s just the start. As in Traffic, in one
way or another all of the characters’ fates are tied to each other,
whether they realize it or not, though the connections are sometimes
tenuous. While Syriana is basically a good film with timely
resonance, it can’t quite seem to measure up to Gaghan’s ambitious
vision and it very nearly collapses under the weight of its many
storylines. Fortunately they are resolved skillfully enough to keep the
film from going under in the end. To some viewers, Syriana will
seem like an unfocused and over-loaded film that goes, all at once,
everywhere and nowhere. Others will find it to be an important work
earnestly exploring major issues. In either case, it’s a film that
deserves to be taken seriously, and it’s likely to be one that will be
talked about for a long time to come.
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