Review: Syriana

I saw Syriana last night (I can do that because I'm done with finals.) For those who don't know, the film is about a CIA agent (Seth Gecko), an oil analyst (Will Hunting), a Arab Prince (Dr. Bashir), an attorney for an oil company (Jean-Michelle Basquiat), two oil company execs (Delmar O'Donnell, John Laroche), and a suicide bomber (some dude.) Their stories weave back and forth, all focusing on the concept of how oil as a commodity can make and break both countries and individual lives.

I enjoyed the movie very much. The comparisons to 2000's Traffic are apt and should be considered a compliment. The character's stories compliment each other beautifully. As for the performances, there is not one weak link among them -- even Amanda Peet, whom I normally consider a waste of celluloid.

The politics of the movie have been garnering it the most attention. I've read reviews that describe the film as supporting both liberal and conservative points of view in terms of how the American government and American companies deal with oil. I don't see it. This movie is liberal, but not insanely so. It clearly shows both how the American government will quickly dispatch anyone who gets in the way of its oil interests and also how the international politics of the region lead to poor, young Arab men that strap bombs to their chests.

My biggest complaint with the movie is that the multitude of stories and the lack of exposition can lead to some confusion as to what's happening, but you always get the point of the scene. Because so many points of view are taken into account, not one story gets the spotlight. Each individual thread could have been a two-hour movie on its own and they all would have been outstanding movies.

Ultimately, the movie is about corruption. Corruption of business, government, and the human soul. These characters live in a world where it makes total sense to kill an Arab prince and his entire family simply because he talked openly about giving up the royal family's oppulent lifestyle in favor of rebuilding his country's infrastructure and providing jobs to the jobless. In other words, they live in the real world. This movie shines a bright, harsh light on the backroom deals that no one knows about. The deals that lead to thousands of death, tons of hate, and a vicious cycle that won't end until we run out of oil.