Syriana (2005)

George Clooney
Matt Damon
Jeffrey Wright
Chris Cooper
William Hurt
Tim Blake Nelson
Amanda Peet
Christopher Plummer

Directed by Stephen Gaghan

Plot: From the players brokering back-room deals in Washington to the men toiling in the oil fields of the Persian Gulf, the film's multiple storylines weave together to illuminate the human consequences of the fierce pursuit of wealth and power. As a career CIA operative (George Clooney) begins to uncover the disturbing truth about the work he has devoted his life to, an up-and-coming oil broker (Matt Damon) faces an unimaginable family tragedy and finds redemption in his partnership with an idealistic Gulf prince (Alexander Siddig). A corporate lawyer (Jeffrey Wright) faces a moral dilemma as he finesses the questionable merger of two powerful U.S. oil companies, while across the globe, a disenfranchised Pakistani teenager (Mazhar Munir) falls prey to the recruiting efforts of a charismatic cleric. Each plays their small part in the vast and complex system that powers the industry, unaware of the explosive impact their lives will have upon the world.

Review: After all the buzz from the Oscars and good reviews this film received, I was really looking forward to it. I think Jeffrey Wright is a great actor and was glad to finally see him getting some credit. Unfortunately, I found this move to be long, slow, and boring.

The movie starts out really good and interesting, but after awhile it started to become long and boring. The story is interesting, but the movie is full of really monotone dialogue and dry performances. George Clooney, Matt Damon, & Jeffrey Wright all give decent performances, but nothing I thought was very special. Necessary or not, the movie bounces all over the world, but never seems to give enough information or time to really keep you interested. Maybe due to the explosive start I expected more, but I was extremely bored and found myself looking for something else to do while it was on.
 

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