Syriana (15) (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Syriana (15)

Stephen Gaghan, Oscar winning writer of Traffic (2000) has moved his sights from the drug world to the oil industry and the many crises in the Persian Gulf. As well as adapting the screenplay from CIA operative Robert Baer's biography "See No Evil", he is also making his directorial debut.

We first meet Robert Barnes (George Clooney) while he is obviously involved in a dodgy missile exchange in Tehran. He assassinates the arms dealers involved in the transaction and we learn he is an agent for the CIA. Unfortunately at the same time he carelessly manages to lose one of the missiles to a third party. He is greatly looking forward to a desk job, but has to put his son Robby (Max Minghella) through university, so needs the money the more dangerous missions afford him. His bosses Marilyn Richards (Viola Davis) and Fred Franks (Tom McCarthy) luckily don't seem unduly troubled by the missing missile. But Prince Nasir (Alexender Siddig) is proving to be a thorn in America's side and they want Barnes to kill him. Nasir is a good man who can see his father Emir Hamed Al-Subaai (Nadim Sawalha) is spending his riches unwisely and not to their country's advantage. He wants his father to accept a deal with China granting them the natural gas rights over an American company called Connex.

Nasir finds support from energy analyst Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), but this is only after a terrible accident involving Woodman's son. We meet Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) a lawyer who is having trouble with his alcoholic father (William Charles Mitchell). His boss Dean Whiting (Christopher Plummer) gives him the task of finding out whether there are any illegal dealings by a company called Killen. Killen has just secured the drilling rights in the region of Kazakhstan and if an intended merger succeeds between them and Connex it will make the company the 23rd largest economic force in the world. So though they don't want anything obviously underhand going on, they also don't want to jeopardise any US oil deal.

Believe me this is just touching the surface of what is actually going on here. Just like Traffic this is one of those films that you are loath to admit you don't have the faintest idea what is going on. Well that's ok: it certainly took me a couple of viewings to get to grips with it. But even then it is extremely difficult to follow, as its complexities are almost overwhelming. This is very definitely not the sort of film where you can put your mind into neutral. In fact I recommend a week doing the Times Sudoku to get into training for it. There are so many subplots it is almost impossible to marry them all up. However, for anyone willing to take on the challenge it is undoubtedly a brilliant film, with characters you care about.

Though it is not exactly enjoyable, it is most thought provoking and it never takes sides, which is exactly what a good political film should do. The story is episodic as it covers everyone for the mega rich to the desperately poor. The acting across the board is flawless, with a stellar performance from Clooney, who put on 30 lbs. for the role and has a beard. And Damon also gives his best as the troubled family man. When you have a supporting cast that also includes Chris Cooper, William Hurt and Mark Strong you can't go far wrong, but I just wish it was less convoluted and more engaging. 7/10