Review of Syriana (2005) by Paulb. — 16 Jan 2006

I get a little frightened by people who think they are learning about how the world really is by going to see a movie. One reviewer here wrote "If you want to learn about the geo-politics of big oil without being talked down to, see this.

" However, if you're looking to educate yourself -- particularly about something as complex as geopolitics -- YOU DON'T GO TO THE MOVIES PEOPLE!! It's a movie, not real life. And even though it is "based upon" a book which is said to be true, no book gets through the Hollywood meat-grinder intact.

Furthermore, I have worked in the oil industry my entire working life (33 years), and have traveled to every country mentioned in the movie and can testify that the oil industry portrayed in the movie is nothing like the oil industry in the real world.

In the real world, there is more boring, hard work and less skullduggery. That being said, the movie is still interesting, particularly for its statement that terrorist masterminds don't actually get dirty themselves but, rather, recruit weaker-minded individuals, exploit the deprivation in their lives, then set them on a course to commit suicide for a bogus payoff after death.

Too bad -- if the masterminds actually had the fortitude to kill themselves, they'd eventually solve the problem of their existence all by themselves.