Syriana (DVD)

THE PLOT

Syriana is a film made up of 4 sub-plots, running concurrently toward a single end.

1. Bob Barnes (played by George Clooney) is a CIA agent who, having spent many years doing the American government's dirty work in the Middle East, becomes disaffected when one of the missiles that he sells to Iranian insurgents ends up in the wrong hands. His refusal to 'toe the party-line' makes him a pariah amongst the intelligence ...
...or Crash managed to do, Syriana has raised questions within my own mind, about the politics behind the oil industry and about this world's reliance on a commodity, the control of which lies within the hands of so few. And it is for this reason, and this reason alone, that I give this film 3 stars and recommend it to my readers.  ... more

THE PLOT

Syriana is a film made up of 4 sub-plots, running concurrently toward a single end.

1. Bob Barnes (played by George Clooney) is a CIA agent who, having spent many years doing the American government's dirty work in the Middle East, becomes disaffected when one of the missiles that he sells to Iranian insurgents ends up in the wrong hands. His refusal to 'toe the party-line' makes him a pariah amongst the intelligence community, but he won't go quietly……..

2. Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), is a representative of a firm of consultants who, despite the tragic loss of his son, is willing to risk his family in order to secure a contract with a powerful Iranian oil magnate. Little does he know that it could be his life on the line too, as the CIA home in on their target……………..

3. Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright), is a commercial lawyer, brought in to ensure that a merger between two oil companies, who have been involved in some very dodgy overseas dealings, goes through without too many problems. But how far will he go to secure that goal for his clients…………….

4. Devoid of a big name, this sub-plot revolves around the arbitrary dismissal of immigrant workers on the Iranian oil fields, by the companies that Holiday represents, and their subsequent struggles, which leaves them open to suggestion for the 'recruiters' from Muslim extremist groups.

Overall, the four sub-plots interweave over the two hours of the film, in an attempt to show the levels of corruption, greed and external intervention which are driving the oil market.

COMMENTS
Plot.
Attempting to run 4 sub-plots at the same time, with four essentially different character sets, whilst interweaving them to create a sense of correlation with one another, yet holding back on any great denouement, simply does not work for the casual viewer.
Each one of the 4 separate storylines could, on their own, have carried a movie, yet Stephen Gaghan, the screenwriter and director of this film, manages to meld them together into a single film, thereby losing clarity of thought and message.
Each story ends up feeling hollow, with neither a definable beginning nor a satisfactory end. The characters are woefully under-developed and their motivations completely unexplained, leaving the viewer unable to empathise with any of them, even when tragedy strikes.
This would make the film difficult to watch, if it had only one plot, but with four, it becomes a dirge of epic proportions, dragging the viewer from one confusing scene to the next, much against his/her will.
It does, however, make the film strangely compelling, which, try as I might, I am unable to explain. Perhaps it is because the viewer will be desperate to find out exactly what is going on and how it all turns out, or perhaps it is because the overall subject matter is one to which we prefer to turn a blind eye in reality, yet feel comfortable with on the screen. Whatever the reason, I found it difficult to turn away from this film.

Acting.
Apparently, George Clooney won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for his performance in this film. Why, I just can't work out.
For the entire two hours he (or rather his character) seemed to stumble about the screen with a look of constant bewilderment and constipation on his face. Perhaps, having read the few words in the script that he was expected to say, he was trying to figure out why he was getting paid so much. Or, perhaps his character was so under-developed that he had no idea what his motivation was for the part. Whatever the reason, thanks to an armful of statues and massive critical acclaim, it seems to have worked for him, however unsatisfactory it is for the film.

Mind you, compared to Matt Damon and Jeffery Wright, 'constant bewilderment' was a huge range of emotions. These two actors managed to last out the entire film without exhibiting a single verifiable emotion. It was as if they had been permanently 'drugged-up' on Valium, barely able to utter their lines and completely unaware of the director's desperate cries for 'ACTION'.

Even the supporting cast, replete with big names like William Hurt and Christopher Plummer, did not manage to distinguish themselves amongst such pedestrian performances. In fact, it was as if the entire cast of Hollywood 'names' deliberately chose to underplay their parts, specifically to allow the acting of the unknown Middle Eastern cast of the fourth sub-plot to shine through, which it does, brilliantly.

Effects/Stunts.
Special effects and stunt work is strictly limited in this film, to a couple of very minor explosions at the beginning and the end.
No doubt the director decided that, rather than pollute the storyline with sensationalist nonsense, he would allow the plot and performances to shine through. Unfortunately, for the reasons outlined above, this doesn't really work

EXTRAS
Having watched this film on DVD rather than at the pictures, and desperate for some explanation and clarification as to the raison d'etre for this movie, I delved into the murky world of DVD extra features for further information. Unfortunately, I did not find the answers that I sought.

I did however find :-

Theatrical Trailer.
I'm sorry, but I'm going to rant a bit now.
I've just watched two hours of this movie only to get to the supposed EXTRA FEATURES to find a trailer for the movie that I have just spent two hours watching. How can this be classed as a legitimate extra? It simply ISN'T one.
Instead, it is a cynical attempt by the film studio to boost the flagging featurette list of a not-particularly-good film, in the forlorn hope that it might snag a few 'anoraks' who measure the validity and worthiness of a movie by the number of bits that the director adds to the DVD release. This sort of pathetic marketing ploy should be banned, if only to protect those unwitting few who are taken in by such rubbish.

Deleted Scenes.
3 short scene, just as confusing as the movie itself. I'm sure that the director only deleted these little snippets for two reasons. Firstly, to bring the running time for this movie to two hours, which is much better sounding than two and a quarter. Secondly, in yet another cynical attempt by the film companies, I find that scenes are often 'deleted' just so that, about three months after the initial DVD release, they can bring out the 'Extended edition' or 'Director's cut' in the hope of re-cashing in.

A Conversation With George Clooney.
A somewhat obsequious attempt by the filmmakers and Mr Clooney to portray himself as a 'nice person', which I am sure he is. This sort of back-patting leaves me cold. Yes, we know you were in ER, and yes, we know that you have done some real turkeys in the past, but for heaven's sake George, get over yourself.

Make A Change, Make A Difference.
A featurette to explain, not the movie itself, but the motivation behind the making of the film as an expose of corruption within the oil business, fuelled by the American dependence upon the 'black gold'.
To tell the truth, after 10 minutes of being lectured by sanctimonious hypocrites, I could stand no more. So, in an attempt to save the precious commodity that they were all preaching about saving, I switched the thing off.
It seemed like the right thing to do, especially as the only alternative that came to mind was to buy a plane ticket, fly over to Hollywood, purchase a few gallons of petrol (unleaded, of course, so as not to added to the L.A. smog caused by all the celebrities and their chauffeur-driven limos), and liberally douse Clooney, Damon et al. with it before throwing lit matches at them whilst explaining that flying around the globe to make really confusing movies about corruption in the oil business was not going to suddenly change the attitude of the average American who can not manage to get to their fridge without taking the car..

CONCLUSION
When it comes to this film, I find myself at odds with, seemingly, everyone else who has ever seen it. The critics, the Oscars, even my fellow Ciaoers all seem to think that this film is some sort of cinematic masterclass, whilst I find it cold, uninspiring and soulless. Which is a shame, because it could have easily been so much better (dodgy acting aside).

The critical mistakes to which the director succumbed can be summed up as simply; too much and too soon. Attempting to incorporate 4 storylines within a single film made it impossible for any of them to fully flourish and make a substantial impact, whilst keeping the film to a cinematically pleasing 122 minutes made the movie feel rushed and squashed in, just to please audiences.

If only Gaghan had concentrated on just two of the sub-plots, or had extended the running time for all 4 to something approaching 3 hours, this film would have had the opportunity to fully explore the themes which it tries so desperately to portray, in such a way as to make them clearer and more 'user-friendly'.
Granted, the resulting movie would have lacked either the righteousness or commercial qualities of the finished article which sits before me, but it would have been more satisfying for the viewer and, as such, would have reached a much wider audience.

And, therein lies the rub.

Whilst the drama purist will enthuse over this movie, extolling the virtues of its cinematography and underlying motifs, the casual viewers will switch off in their droves after just 10 minutes and go off to the latest sequel of something banal. And it is this fact, that the convoluted, confusing nature of this film fails to reach out and grab the less-well-informed audience, which is its major failing.

There is no point preaching about corruption and conspiracy to those who are 'in the know', who would be the likely audience for this film. After all, most of them, by their very nature, are already aware of the political shenanigans which underscore the energy business.

If Clooney and Co. want to change the world, they should have lightened up the feel of this movie, thrown in a bit of gratuitous sex and violence, maybe a car chase or two, and perhaps they would have managed to get their message over to the Playstation Generation, albeit watered down.

And yet, having written such a scathing review of this film, having criticised the plot and the acting and having come so close to metaphorically hammering down the final nail in the lid of this movie's coffin, I find myself unable to fully condemn it.

Whilst it has failed to affect me nearly as much as The Constant Gardener or Crash managed to do, Syriana has raised questions within my own mind, about the politics behind the oil industry and about this world's reliance on a commodity, the control of which lies within the hands of so few. And it is for this reason, and this reason alone, that I give this film 3 stars and recommend it to my readers. 

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