Syriana
The film is a politically-charged epic about the state of the oil industry in the hands of those personally involved and affected by it, showing the human consequences of the fierce pursuit of wealth and power.
1 November 1941, Houston, Texas, USA
14 February 1979, Dijon, Côte-d'Or, France
18 January 1944, New York City, New York, USA
5 August 1963, London, England, UK
13 January 1999, Connecticut, USA
20 March 1950, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
September 01, 2009
A skeleton of theme minus the meat of resonanceFebruary 28, 2008
You didn't understand all of it? It went by too fast to take it all in? There was too much information to mentally digest? Yeah, well, that was kind of the point.October 07, 2006
It's entirely possible that Gaghan just isn't an actor's director.August 06, 2007
Preferring probing questions to pat solutions, the film drills deep in its exploration of the US's ventures, both economic and military, in the Middle East.December 09, 2005
Watch closely and listen carefully during Syriana because Stephen Gaghan's movie is that rarity: a thinking person's drama.November 01, 2007
Its dark, dog-eat-dog vision of the world we live in may give you geopolitical nightmares.December 09, 2005
It's hard to get passionately swept away by a movie when you're struggling continually to figure out who's doing what to whom and why.January 03, 2006
Syriana impresses, not because it is very moving, which it isn't, or because it is crystal clear, which it also isn't, but because it is so large, so encompassing, so seemingly privy to inside stuff.March 30, 2009
A film that treats its audience as adults, this is an extremely rewarding work that handsomely pays off the concentration required to watch it.July 14, 2007
The most troublesome part of Syriana is that the movie is, in fact, so easy to believe.March 30, 2009
This is intelligent, committed, and politically provocative, though its narrative puzzle box may prompt you to throw up your hands and let ExxonMobil go on running the world.September 23, 2007
Probes a significant subject but treats its people as mere stick figures carrying exposition from place to place.