Cast: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, Peter Gerety, Christopher Plummer, Alexander Siddig, Akbar Kurtha, Mazhar Munir
Director: Stephen Gaghan
Rating:
Enetertainment Quotient: 20%
Genre: Drama
Running time: 126 minutes
MPAA rating: R for violence and language

Synopsis:
This story is based on notes written by a former CIA agent. The story of this film is complicated. The director introduces various seemingly unconnected characters in different threads. And then he interweaves these following threads to form the main plot of the film -

1. Two major US oil companies decide to go in for a merger because one of them clinches a major oil contract in Middle East. Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is hired to make sure that the process of merger is smooth.

2. Prince Nasir (Alexander Siddig) & Prince Meshal (Akbar Kurtha) are heirs to the throne of an oil rich sheikh in the Gulf. Prince Nasir is an idealistic man with strong academic qualifications. He is reform oriented and plans for long term economic solutions, which will make his country less dependent on USA. Prince Meshal (the younger one) is money minded and does not mind conspiring with USA for his personal short-term benefits. It is the time for   the emir (king) to appoint one of his sons as the new emir of the country.

3. Secret CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney) looks after the global clandestine operations of CIA. He is sent to assassinate Prince Nasir as he is a threat to US’s oil interests. He needs to obtain contacts and he is in danger of becoming a scapegoat if things go wrong.

4. Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) is a popular US energy analyst based in the Gulf. He offers his consultancy to prince Nasir. He loses his son at one of the parties thrown by Emir.

5. Wahid Khan (Mazhar Munir) is a Pakistani immigrant in the Gulf who is in search of employment. From being a poor unemployed immigrant, he becomes the member of a suicide mission.

What is good in the film?
This film attempts to show a balanced view of oil politics played by the US government and US oil companies. This film also shows how the US government tries to control the rulers of the Gulf countries. George Clooney is exceptionally good playing the role of the middle aged secret CIA agent wearing a beard. Screenplay of the film is good.

What is not so good in the film?
 The movie is pretty slow. The basic plot is hard to understand and comprehend at first viewing. You need to pay a lot of attention.

How different is Syriana from Traffic (both from the same writer)?

1. Subject: Syriana deals with USA policies and greed over grabbing a handful share of oil reserves in Middle East. Traffic deals with drug trafficking (US – Mexico) and USA’s policy towards the drug business. Syriana deals with legalised business of oil and Traffic deals with the illegal business of drugs.

2. Plot: Traffic sticks to a plot where each and every character has a logical ending.  The plot of Syriana is open-ended. There is no popular ending to the film.

Dialogues: There are a couple of good dialogues on corruption like  “Corruption is good. Corruption is why we win.”

Other films with similar marrative styles:
Crash and Amores Perros

Films with similar content:

Corporate corruption: The Insider, Erin Brockovich, The Constant Gardener, Thank You for Smoking, Corporate (Hindi) and Traffic
Suicide missions: United 93, Paradise Now
CIA secret operations: Munich, Bourne Identity, Man on Fire

Tailpiece: There are certain Hollywood films that fascinate the movie lover with their technical orientation and narrative. There are some films that cater to the animal in you who is always looking for popular entertainment. If you are one of those, this film is not for you. If you are looking for an intense film, which you might have to watch a couple of times to completely understand it, then watch Syriana.