I loved this movie. It's smart, timely, fast paced, well acted, and well written. It also scared the hell out of me and made me seriously stop and wonder if I could ride my bike all over town and wear sweaters to bed through winter, since as I was leaving the theatre that fact that I am an oil-consumer was making me nauseas. So - in that - I guess the movie had done what it set out to do.
Syriana uses a Traffic-style format to show audiences the connections between oil in the Middle East and the US political agenda (hence, the aforementioned fear and nausea). A number of story lines weave around and through each other to tell the different sides of this tale. Grieving parents, a CIA workhorse, a high-powered attorney at a career cross-roads, disenchanted Pakistani youths, and an Arab prince, all connected loosely in some way by the oil game, eventually collide in a shocking-and-yet-sadly-believable-way.
As a political piece, it raises questions that many of us are thinking (such as - if there was no oil in the Middle East would US decision makers really give a shit about the place?). And given the complex topic, its a tricky story to pull off in a 2 hr film - but this film manages to weave these tales and raise these questions with an edge-of-your-seat-and-in-your-face kind of storytelling that keeps you engaged and wanting to know more.
A top-rate film, it ranks #2 on my list of best films of the year (thus far anyway), right behind Good Night, and Good Luck (way to go, George).
