Film review - Syriana (15)

From the Swindon Advertiser, first published Friday 3rd Mar 2006.

YOU might not inject it, you might not snort it, and you certainly wouldn't swallow it but let's face it, to many people oil is a drug.

It's a means to making money, and many people will get giddy with the wealth it gives them.

But it is also a source of war, terrorism, corruption and greed. And as such, oil makes a great raw material for a movie.

Syriana was directed by Stephen Gaghan, who wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-winning Traffic, a film which threaded together different story strands in a drama about the international drugs trade.

Gaghan follows a similar route with Syriana, with the emphasis moving from drugs to oil.

You will need to concetrate to keep up the plot is complex to say the least. But it is cohesive enough to present us with a thoroughly absorbing and thrilling drama that could almost be a documentary in the way it is filmed and in the story(ies) it is telling.

As for the plot strands, there are many.

There is the oil-producing Gulf country where the charismatic and reform-minded Prince Nasir (Alexander Siddig) is seeking to change long-established relationships with US business interests.

There is veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes (Clooney), due for a cushy desk job back home but whose last assignment the assassination of two arms dealers in Tehran sees a missile fall into the hands of a mysterious Egyptian.

There is ambitious Washington attorney Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright), whose work on the merger of two US energy giants sees him wading through some deep and murky waters.

And there is energy analyst Bryan Woodman (Damon), a rising star at an energy trading company who is being courted by Prince Nasir to work for him and his reform programme.

Believe it or not, that's it in a nutshell but there is more, much more to this film. For a start, keep an eye on Ahmed and Farooq, two workers for a US oil company in the Middle East who are becoming increasingly disillusioned and angry by the treatment they and their co-workers receive. It is their involvement that leads to the film's stunning climax it's one that you should have seen coming (if you didn't, you've only yourself to blame), and it doesn't make comfortable viewing.

The jigsaw that is Syriana is a major screenwriting and directing feat, and Gaghan has, just about, pulled it off. We never linger too long on one story strand for it to be boring, but we are never rushed from one to the other to make it confusing.

We certainly see plenty of the world for our money Syriana takes us from the Gulf to Washington, Geneva, France, Spain, Iran, and many points in between although any hint of anything glamorous or exotic is wiped away by a gritty filming style and a restless camera that adds to the edginess of the story.

There may be a feeling that it's all a little far-fetched, but there is no denying that Syriana gives us plenty of food for thought. 8/10

SYRIANA

Cert 15, 127mins

Starring: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Christopher Plummer, Chris Cooper

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