Syriana (DVD, 2006, Rental Ready)

I have watched this movie over 3 times, and still am a little confused about what is going on. Here is a summary of four subplots all in one movie.

(1) Bob Barnesis (George Clooney)is an aging CIA agent who is a Middle East veteran and who accidentally loses a powerful missile while in Beirut. The CIA is furious with him and wants to assign him to a desk job, but he messes up the interview for the job. So the CIA sends him back to Beirut on another mission, and he is kidnapped and makes a fool of the CIA again. When he returns home, he is basically terminated although he hasn't been told.

(2) The emir of Kazhakstan is getting old and has two sons that are competing for the throne. Prince Nasir is being advised by American Energy specialist Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) and is the one who appears to be the most interested in making a profit for his country and in using these profits to help his people, who are very poor. His brother is more favored by the USA because we are interested in procuring the abundant oil there as cheaply as possible.

(3) A big US corporation, Connex-Killen, has gotten the rights to drill in Kazhakstan. They are headed by Jimmy Pope (Chris Cooper) and are the oil magnates that will profit most by a good relationship with the new Kazhakstan emir. However, they are a little concerned that the U S Department of Justice will not approve the merger of the two companies. And some sacrificial heads do roll to make the unclean merger happen.

(4) Some Arab oil workers in Kazhakstan are terminated when the merger is announced. Because of unemployment, most of them enter a Muslim school that is training suicide bombers. To me, this plot is very interesting because you see how the training is done. You also see videos of students planning their funerals and what they want done at the ceremony. They think that they are going to a better world where they will be served all the time. In the end, we learn that they have the missile that Bob Barnesis lost in Beirut.

This movie has some torture scenes, bombing scenes, Texas barbecues, as well as some high living by the emir and his family and guests. We also see that being a CIA agent is scary and is not for those of us who want a simple family life. We also may not like the corruption of oil companies and their greed in pursuing the profits. We also see a CIA that we may not like as they try to interfere in world politics to pursue the best deal for oil in this country.

This movie won George Clooney the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. He had to gain 30 pounds to look more like the older CIA veteran that his role required. He also speaks farsi (Arabic language) during the movie. He also produced the movie.

If you are like me, you will have to view the movie several times to understand what is going on. My advice is to write down the characters names as they are announced so that you can relate them to the subplots that they appear in and understand their motivations. This is one of the most difficult movies to understand that I have ever viewed. Good luck!