Review of Syriana (2005) by Susan R — 27 May 2009
From Traffic screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, comes this powerful but in places preachy ensembled piece based upon Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil. It's got good intentions, and it does touch upon a very relevent subject in our times, and it won an Oscar for George Clooney, but it's not the most cinematic of subjects, and it feels like Traffic all over again with oil instead of drugs.
It's set across 3 continents, and it focuses on how a merger with American Oil company Connex-Killen, the investigation of the attorney Bennett Holiday (Matt Damon), who has ties with the company, and how it has an effect on it's employees in the Middle East, especially when the Arabians sign a contract with the Chinese.
It also focuses on politics in the area as well, including CIA Operative Robert Barnes (Clooney) who gets involved in an unsuccessful mission in Lebanon. It's got good performances, but it's very complicated and hard to follow, it's gritty and is trying to be another Traffic, but petroleum politics are not the stuff of cinema, it was a good effort and it has a brilliant cast, but it feels empty and hollow.
This review of Syriana (2005) was written by Susan R on 27 May 2009.
Syriana has generally received positive reviews.
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