Review of Syriana (2005) by Ken C — 10 Jul 2011

The scenes sort of come and go and it requires alot of patience before it gets to the good stuff, but I really enjoyed this movie once those good parts started to kick in.

The acting is great all around and if it hadn't been for the acting this probably would have earned a much lower rating from me instead of a marginal 80%. Everyone acts the way they should in the poistions that there characters are put in, especially Matt Damon. George Clooney was also a smart casting choice but did he really deserve the Academy Award for best supporting actor? I mean he was going up against guys like Jake Gyllenhaal and William Hurt, what makes him so special? I think Jake Gyllenhaal was the clear winner but whatever Clooney still did a good job and he played it in a way that made you want to give him a big hug and stick your hands deep into his beard and skrunch it.

The dialogue is very realistic and also very engaging, it's another one of the movie's saving graces that prefents it from earning a 60% or lower. The guy who worte it also wrote the script for Traffic which was another good movie, so that alone shows what an entertaining movie this is.

I never got bored watching Syriana but at times I tried looking around the room to find something else to keep me entertained while the people in the movie were talking. Most of the subplots just didn't interest me at all and I just wanted every scene with them to just end so it could go back to George Clooney's story or Matt Damon's. The best parts of the movie in my opinion are the parts with Damon and the parts with Clooney, especially the fingernail scene.

You may get bored, but if your patient it's a pretty entertaining movie. I liked it but I still wish that Clooney hadn't won the AWARD! GOD DAMNIT!!