Similarly created to the movie Traffic by writer-director Stephen Gaghan, Syriana is a soap opera circling around the world of global oil cartels. It attempts to showcase the wide implications of a societal addiction (which is oil in Syriana) to the business, political, social and personal lives of people. The story kicks off when a merger between two prominent oil companies of the world reveals ethical problems for the lawyer assigned on ensuring that the deal happened (Jeffrey Wright), and global effects beyond what one is able to see; a CIA agent (George Clooney) investigating him and ultimately finds out his true goal and the people he really works for; a brash oil broker (Matt Damon) experiences personal tragedy and partners with a Gulf Prince (Alexander Siddig) who is too ambitious for his own good. The two attempt to build an economy anew, only to discover that they are against powers far beyond their control. On the other hand, a revolutionary Islamic priest lures Pakistani youths to terrorism. And that’s just the beginning. Whether they notice it or not, all of these characters’ fates would be connected to one another, although at times the connections seem tenuous. Burdened by several different storylines, the film almost collapsed on itself in its effort to match with Gaghan’s idealistic vision. Syriana remains to be a basically believable film and its solutions to the problems keep it from crumbling to the ground in the end. No matter what viewers may think, whether they see the movie that goes everywhere to nowhere or an earnest attempt to show everyone some of the world’s major issues, this film deserves to be taken seriously and most likely will be talked about for a long time to come
. –Dan Vancini