Syriana
2005 Directed by Stephen Gaghan
Synopsis
Everything is connected.
U.S. energy giant Connex is losing control of key Middle East oil fields in a kingdom ruled by the al-Subaai family. The emirate's foreign minister, Prince Nasir has granted natural gas drilling rights to a Chinese company, greatly upsetting the U.S. oil industry and government. To compensate for its decreased production capacity, Connex initiates a shady merger with Killen, a smaller oil company that recently won the drilling rights to key petroleum fields in Kazakhstan. Antitrust regulators at the U.S. Justice Department have misgivings. A Washington, D.C.-based law firm is hired to smooth the way for the merger. Bennett Holiday is assigned to promote the impression of due diligence to the DoJ, deflecting any allegations of corruption.
Cast
Studio
Popular reviews
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"It's complicated."
But motivations are not.
Networks of connections
Now spread over borders
Localized via family.Interesting to note w/r/t the "politics" of this film, it's clearly anti-corporations, government, what have you, but the only solution it offers is the family. This is of course typical of any classical Hollywood narrative (the imaginary solution to the contradictory problem), but what makes Syriana interesting (but not good) is how it refuses to even mention environmental solutions at all (whether you believe in them or not is irrelevant , but its glaring omission here can only be subscribed to the whole "within the POV of the characters it chose"). So you have a supposed liberal film that forces you to "think," but…
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I'd rather preform trepanation on myself with a mason jar than watch this snoozefeZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Oops, sorry. Dozed off just thinking about this turd.
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I... Uh... What... just happened? And why should I care?
I'm sorry, but this left me cold. Probably because I watched it at night, when I was tired, and I started multitasking about an hour into it because I was bored and had no freaking idea what the hell was going on. I feel like this should've been right up my alley, but instead it felt like a muddled mess of vague characters portrayed by great actors that sort of didn't... do much.
I probably should have given it my full attention, and since I have no idea what occurred during these two hours I should probably try it again, though I think it's going to be a long time…
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politics
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The film pursues a series of overlapping stories on the generally deleterious effect of American business interests in the Persian Gulf, and portrays America as using military force to back up these economic interests. It's not an absolutely enthralling film, and the story is extremely complex and hard to follow—the two things meaning that one has given up even trying by the end.
Start with the title. According to the film's website, "'Syriana' is . . . used by Washington think-tanks to describe a hypothetical reshaping of the Middle East." Writer/director Stephen Gaghan said he thought it was a "great" word for "man's perpetual hope of remaking any geographic region to suit his own needs." This film is not about…
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Terrific, sprawling, chilling in its implications. Loosely based on the real life escapades of former CIA agent Robert Baer, Syriana is a timely exposé of the US oil industry and the energy crisis facing capitalism. And that's just a tiny crater in the labyrinth complexity of this ambitious film. Besides the need for governments to gain oil, power and money, Syriana focuses on the failure of American foreign policy in the Middle East and whether it can change. Deeper still, it's about why terrorist attacks and suicide bombers won't go away any time soon. It all seriously demands one's attention, and if you're willing to tune a good ear to its interwoven political issues, there's a great deal to learn…
Recent reviews
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Really liked all the acting and the actors, the ending wasn't really for me
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This nearly made it into my top 10 list. I cannot tell you how captivated I was by this story. Not only because the problems are relevant today, but because the acting was so good that you nearly forget you are watching a movie. You could easily believe all of the events taking place on screen, and only the best films covering real topics pull this off. A monumental achievement.
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Inteligente y complejo thriller político. Su profundidad revela que todo esta podrido hasta la médula y que no hay salvación.
Destaca el contraste con producciones recientes, que tocan también el tema de las relaciones de occidente con Oriente Próximo, que resultan más maniqueas, dóciles y superficiales.
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Top notch performances put this movie above the typical foray of dark political thriller that seemed wildly abundant in the mid-late 2000s.
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politics
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The cast is very good, especially Clooney and Plummer. However, the plot is very hard to follow and there are too many characters. Not enough dramatic moments, and the pacing is too slow.
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"It's complicated."
But motivations are not.
Networks of connections
Now spread over borders
Localized via family.Interesting to note w/r/t the "politics" of this film, it's clearly anti-corporations, government, what have you, but the only solution it offers is the family. This is of course typical of any classical Hollywood narrative (the imaginary solution to the contradictory problem), but what makes Syriana interesting (but not good) is how it refuses to even mention environmental solutions at all (whether you believe in them or not is irrelevant , but its glaring omission here can only be subscribed to the whole "within the POV of the characters it chose"). So you have a supposed liberal film that forces you to "think," but…
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This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.
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A great idea and great story, but shown confusingly and awkward. And the big actors here (Damon & Clooney) really don't do enough; but it seems to be the fault of the script, not them. Still worth a rental though.