Syriana

[cliaz]

Got to tell you I finished watching this movie last night. I freaking loved it.

 

I'm a huge fan of government and big corp. corruption movies. This movie rocked. I'm also a fan of Stephen Gaghan who also did Traffic which is one of my all time favs.

 

I know a lot of people didn't like this movie and that's cool but man it really does make you think.

 

Plus I thought it was pimp how the US had to rough up on that prince.

[billay]

I watched it last night too and thought that it was very good. It's funny. I found myself thinking "this movie reminds me of traffic" without knowing the smae people made it.

 

 

It does present a pretty depressing window of the high level interactions between Texas oil companies, Arab kings and the US Government and legal system. I loved the minor character's diatribe about "corruption keeps us safe"

[cliaz]

I watched it last night too and thought that it was very good. It's funny. I found myself thinking "this movie reminds me of traffic" without knowing the smae people made it.

It does present a pretty depressing window of the high level interactions between Texas oil companies, Arab kings and the US Government and legal system. I loved the minor character's diatribe about "corruption keeps us safe"

 

 

 

yeah that was pimp and pretty much true.

[Dr. Love]

I watched it last night too and thought that it was very good. It's funny. I found myself thinking "this movie reminds me of traffic" without knowing the smae people made it.

It does present a pretty depressing window of the high level interactions between Texas oil companies, Arab kings and the US Government and legal system. I loved the minor character's diatribe about "corruption keeps us safe"

 

 

yeah that was pimp and pretty much true.

 

You guys realize this is fiction, right? And only mildly entertaining fiction at that.

[billay]

You guys realize this is fiction, right? And only mildly entertaining fiction at that.

 

Thanks Doc

[skins]

You guys should read some of Robert Baer's books--very good. He is the guy Clooney is supposed to be playing but in a highly fictionalized manner.

[cliaz]

I just watched this again last night for like the 3rd time and man does this movie rock or what? There is so much going and how deep the corruption is that it just blows my mind.

I always root for the Prince because he wants to make his country better for his people and then the U.S. steps in and refs.

 

“How dare you invalidate a contract with us and then sell the oil to the Chinese? Alright Bob send in a cruise missile and show this A-rab how we ref. “

 

I know a lot of people hate traffic and this movie but to me it gets no better.

 

[nuke'em ttg]

that baby was was on the sh!t pile at BlockBuster Sunday.......pity the sucker that picks it up for $3.00...

 

fingernail scene was the only thing that kept me from hanging myself......sorry Cliaz

[Avernus]

I actually didn't mind the movie at all...

 

alot of people seem to hate it..

[cre8tiff]

I find this thread political and offensive.

[cliaz]

Spoiler alert****

 

 

 

Here is the entire plot wrapped up nicely for you who hated it. Most likely because it is hard to follow hyper plot movies ( i love them though)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fictional American energy giant Connex, sharing a nominal resemblance with ExxonMobil, is losing control of key Middle-East oil fields in a fictional kingdom ruled by the al-Subaai family. The emirate's foreign minister, Prince Nasir (Alexander Siddig) has granted natural-gas drilling rights to a Chinese company, greatly upsetting the American oil industry and government. In order to compensate for its decreased production capacity, Connex initiates a shady merger with Killen, a smaller oil company which recently won the drilling rights to key oil fields in Kazakhstan. Connex-Killen ranks as the world's fifth largest oil company, and American anti-trust regulators at the Department of Justice (DOJ) have misgivings. The Washington law firm headed by Dean Whiting (Christopher Plummer) is hired to smooth the way, and the taciturn Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is assigned to promote the impression to the DOJ that due diligence occurred and any suspicions of bribing foreign officials have been confronted.

 

Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) is an energy analyst based in Geneva, Switzerland. Woodman's supervisor directs him to attend a private party hosted by the emir at his estate in Marbella, Spain, to offer his company's analytical services. Woodman is unwilling, because it will be his son's birthday, but he is told to take his family with him. At the party, Woodman is prevented from speaking directly with the emir, who is busy showing off the estate's remotely controlled electronic systems to Chinese oil executives. They try to control the swimming pool's lighting system, but it is not working due to faulty wiring, which soon happens to electrocute Woodman's son. (Much later in the film, Woodman falls out with his wife, who leaves Switzerland as he focuses intensely on his work, until a near-death experience leads him to rejoin his family.)

 

In reparation and out of sympathy for the loss of his son, Prince Nasir reveals that the Marbella estate will be razed and converted into a park, grants Woodman's company oil interests worth 75 million USD, and invites Woodman to become his economic advisor. Prince Nasir confides in Woodman that all is not as it appears: the prince, recognising that oil dependency is not sustainable in the long term, desires to break away from American economic dependence and utilize his nation's oil profits to diversify the economy and introduce democratic reforms. In contrast to the reactionary, fundamentalist status quo of his father's government (which has been supported by American interests), Prince Nasir is dedicated to the idea of progressive reform. (He is compared to prominent leaders such as Mossadeq, Kemal Ataturk, and King Faisal.) As evidenced by the deal with the Chinese, this includes granting drilling rights to the highest bidder — but the U.S. stands in the way. Nasir hopes to succeed his father as emir, but his younger brother, happy with his playboy lifestyle and willing to continue the status quo (such as American military presence), is chosen. Nasir plans a military coup, but American officials kill him moments before via a missile attack on his Range Rover.

 

Robert Barnes (George Clooney) is a veteran CIA field operative trying to stop Middle Eastern illegal arms trafficking. While on assignment in Tehran to assassinate two Iranian arms dealers via an explosion, Barnes notices that an anti-tank missile intended to participate in the explosion was diverted to a blue-eyed Arab who did not speak Farsi. Barnes makes his superiors nervous by writing memos about the missile theft, and is subsequently proposed for a desk job; however, unaccustomed to the political discretion required, he quickly embarrasses the wrong person by speaking his mind and is sent back to field work — specifically, arranging the assassination of Prince Nasir. Barnes travels to Lebanon and seeks safe passage from a Hezbollah leader. Barnes then hires a mercenary with whom he has worked before, named Mussawi/"Jimmy", to murder Nasir. But Mussawi turns out to be an Iranian agent, who has Barnes kidnapped. Mussawi tortures Barnes, seeking information about the Tehran explosion, and nearly kills him before being interrupted by the Hezbollah leader.

 

When the CIA learns that Mussawi intends to broadcast its intention to kill Nasir, the agency seeks to distance itself by scapegoating Barnes and portraying him as a rogue agent. Whiting becomes worried, first about Robert talking about the Nasir assassination plan, second that the coup that Nasir is organizing would have a greater likelihood of success, and thirdly that the assassination of Nasir by Predator drone would be evident as an American hit. However, after being threatened, Whiting ensures the release of Barnes' passports through his powerful political connections. Barnes eventually learns why he was portrayed as a rogue agent, and approaches Prince Nasir to warn him of the assassination plan. It is too late and both men are killed in the explosion.

 

Pakistani migrant workers Saleem Ahmed Khan (Shahid Ahmed) and his son Wasim (Mazhar Munir) board a bus to go to work at a Connex refinery. When they arrive, they find out that they have been laid off due to a Chinese company (China Gas and Electric) outbidding Connex for the rights to run that facility. Since the company has provided food and lodging, the workers face the threat of poverty and deportation due to their unemployed status. Wasim desperately searches for work. The migrant workers are ordered to report to the immigration bureau or face deportation and Saleem and Wasim wait in a long line, which is overseen by heavily armed guards. A public address system warns those waiting to keep silent. An elderly man complains about the heat, and when Saleem tries to warn him not to talk, it is Saleem and Wasim who are beaten with truncheons by the guards. Wasim and his friend join an Islamic school to learn Arabic in an effort to improve their employment prospects. While playing soccer, they meet a charismatic blue-eyed Muslim fundamentalist cleric (the same who took Robert Barnes' missile in Tehran) and start down a path that will eventually lead them into executing a suicide attack on a Connex-Killen LNG tanker (similar to the Limburg attack) using a shaped-charge explosive from Tehran missile. The individual or organization that is responsible for this attack remains unclear. However, it is falsely linked to the death of Barnes in a scene where Barnes' CIA office is being cleaned out.

 

Bennett Holiday meets with U.S. Attorney Donald Farish III, who is convinced that Killen bribed someone to get the drilling rights in Kazakhstan. While investigating Connex-Killen's records, Holiday discovers a wire transfer of funds that is traced back to a transaction between Danny Dalton (Tim Blake Nelson) and Kazakhstani officials. Holiday tells Connex-Killen of his discovery, and they pretend not to have known about it. Holiday advises Dalton that he will likely be charged with corruption in order to serve as a "body" to get the DOJ off the back of the rest of Connex-Killen. Farish then strong-arms Holiday into giving the DOJ information about illegal activities he has discovered. Holiday gives up Dalton, but Farish says this is not enough. Holiday meets with ex-Killen chief Jimmy Pope (Chris Cooper), and informs him that the DOJ needs a second body to drop the investigation. Pope asks Holiday whether a person at Holiday's firm, above him, would be sufficient as the additional body. Holiday acknowledges that if the name were big enough, the DOJ would stop the investigation, and allow the merger.

 

Holiday brings his colleague and mentor Sydney Hewitt to meet with the CEO of Connex-Killen, Lee Janus. In a surprise move, Holiday reveals an under-the-table deal that Hewitt made while the Connex-Killen merger was being processed. Holiday has given Hewitt to the DOJ as the second body, thereby protecting the rest of Connex-Killen. Janus is able to attend the ceremony "oil industry man of the year" with a load taken off his shoulders.

[Coffeeman]

Wow cliaz - hope you didn't have to type that yourself.....