Syriana
SYRIANA (15)
D: Stephen Gaghan
Warner Bros./Participant Media (Jennifer Fox, Michael
Nozik & Georgia Kacandes)
US 2005
126 mins
Thriller/Drama
W: Stephen Gaghan [based on the book "See No Evil" by
Robert Baer]
DP: Robert Elswit
Ed: Stephen Mirrione
Mus: Alexandre Desplat
George Clooney (Bob Barnes), Matt Damon (Bryan Woodman),
Jeffrey Wright (Bennett Holiday), Chris Cooper (Jimmy Pope), William Hurt (Stan Goff), Tim Blake Nelson (Daniel Dalton, Jr.), Amanda Peet (Julie Woodmam), Christopher Plummer (Dean
Whiting)
An ambitious political thriller which attempts to tie many
story strands together concerning corruption of the world's oil industry. Some of the segments work better than others, especially the one concerning George Clooney as a former CIA agent in
the Middle East who becomes the fall guy following a botched assassination attempt. However, the scenes set on American soil don't have the same level of tension and feel smugly contrived as
political agitprop.
6/10
