Movie Review: Syriana

Syriana: Torgo disapproves

What a disappointment. In hindsight, this movie was doomed to be lousy. The writer/director also did Traffic, which should've been much better than it was. Syriana is worse, by far. They're trying to make a convoluted, 70's-style ensemble piece about the oil industry. It's in the style of The French Connection, or any of those Robert Redford/Gene Hackman/Dustin Hoffman/Roy Scheider 70's thrillers.

But this movie isn't good. The biggest problem is that none of the individual stories is particularly compelling. George Clooney's is closest. He's a rogue CIA agent involved in murky arms dealing and assassinations.

Matt Damon's story is the tear-jerker. In an idiotic move, he takes his family to a business meeting. His 6-year-old son gets killed, which prompts the Arab prince to take pity on him, offer him loads of money, ruin his family, blah blah blah. We lost interest when the killing of his son was so inanely contrived and badly written that we were actively rooting against the mother.

Speaking of badly written, that goes for the Jeffrey Wright plot as well. There's nothing good to say about his story. Chris Cooper is fun to watch, that's about it.

Then there's the Islamic terrorist plot. Some brothers spend the whole movie being convinced that blowing up an oil plant is Allah's will. Then they do it. Great.

I like the idea of a movie about the oil industry. It's a topic that seems, at least superficially, to warrant further study. But Syriana entirely fails to make good viewing. It's dull. It's predictable. It's sloppy. George Clooney got an Oscar for putting on weight, growing a beard, and getting his fingernails ripped out on film. Good for him. He seems like a decent guy. Just don't watch this movie.