Syriana (2005)

Just before Christmas I went to see Syriana (2005) with Paul the insurance adjuster. I found director Stephen Gaghan’s political thriller a little confusing but I enjoyed all of it.

Multiple story lines in this film slowly come together and show how complex and corrupt the oil industry can be. CIA agents, corporate lawyers, oil workers, terrorists and oil sheiks make up an ensemble cast that had me scrambling to keep track of the different subplots. After learning that Warner Brothers, emailed film critics a guide to the various characters in this film, I feel a little better.

Syriana is an important film in that it raises a lot of questions about the oil industry in relation to greed, power, US military, China as a rising economic power and terrorism in the middle-east. It’s the type of film that you can watch with a friend and end up discussing for hours afterward.

I plan to see it again and I’m sure that I’ll enjoy it even more the second time. It’s not often that you get a chance to use your brain when watching a film.

Posted in Movie Reviews at 9:41 PM