finnegan’s film blog

Last week, I watched Syriana for the fourth or fifth time. I first saw it in the theater in December, 2005. Here’s what I wrote about it then:

It’s not quite as good as Traffic (which is easily in my top 20) but I feel that it’s one of those rare films that doesn’t insult the viewer’s intelligence. There are no bathroom break scenes in Syriana. You actually have to pay attention to every minute of the story. Comparisons to Traffic — Stephen Gaghan’s other epic, directed by Stephen Soderbergh — are unavoidable: characters trying to make a difference in a power struggle that is infinitely bigger than they are, family tragedies, class struggles, etc. But I would argue that the power struggle over oil is more important and relevant than the “war on drugs.” It affects more people, and has a greater sense of urgency.

One complaint nay-saying critics have made about Syriana is that the scope is too large, and there are too many characters. But the subject is large. I don’t know how else one would tell this story. He couldn’t have made this film with just one main character. Although, I suppose one could argue that the oil industry is the main character in this movie, in which case the movie is about one character. There are just so many aspects to cover, and I feel that director Stephen Gaghan did a wonderful job tying everything together without making it too chiche. The feeling I got while watching Syriana was one of hopelessness. The moral of the story seems to be: When people interfere with the money machine, they are eliminated.

My opinion of the film hasn’t changed much since the first time I saw it. Between then and now, I’ve read Craig Unger’s book, House of Bush, House of Saud, and it makes a lot more sense today than it did in 2005.

I highly recommend Syriana to anyone interested in learning more about U.S. - Middle East relations. But I would advise anyone watching the film to approach it they way you would a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. It’s not an feel-good popcorn movie.

Interesting side note: the real-life Bob Baer, the former CIA operative who inspired George’s Clooney’s character, has been featured in a number of documentary films in recent years.