Review of Syriana (2005) by Peter Y — 18 Oct 2008

I wasn't expecting this to be anything more than the almost fashionable political drama of the likes of Traffic. Indeed, in style and plot and storyline devices, the two films are very similar with only details relating to the actual topic that differs.

In both, we have various sides/stories of the people at different levels that form the story and in both, the range of the involvement of the various parties is what makes this film interesting.

But this is so much more watchable than Traffic was. Where Traffic was without doubt a film that you have to work at watching this is one that filters out a lot of the smaller aspects and gets right into the meat of it.

This is what makes it a better to watch film. It is also something that makes it weaker as a statement. On the one hand, it gives an almost typical Hollywood style political statement but then again, by skipping on some of the more human aspects of the story events, you don't get the same level of grit as you do in something like traffic.

Top notch performances from all the cast who are lucky in that they all have meaty roles to play with. Whereas in Traffic, there are definite lead roles in each of the stories, here you get more of a feeling that all the roles are equal and are there to serve the story telling.

Worth a watch even if this isn't your normal cup of tea.