Customer Reviews
A Great Power has no friends, only interests - By: Charles Vasey, 08 Jun 2008 
Syriana is one of those films that are not for the casual viewer since it deploys a lot of characters in a lot of threads that come together only at the last moment. A moment's inattention & Jack, you dead. This tendency to chop back & forth is made worse by bad attacks of mumbling on a pretty ropey soundtrack. Seldom have I wished more for Brian Blessed to have appeared in a film.
The story line, once disassembled, is a cynical appreciation of the link between oil companies, their governments & their "marks" - the producer countries. In this case it is American oil companies (neatly a merger of two cultures, one tedious corporate & the other wildcatter), the American government, & an Arab emirate, but in truth it could be many other nations - the Americans just have better assassination means. The scenes in Beirut (where Hezbollah rescue the American agent) & the Gulf (with the young Pakistani workers) tell a much more complex story than the Press usuallly tell. Most of the self-serving characters survive (with a wee bit of collateral damage) but the two characters nearest to being selfless both get clipped. Ah well.
It has THE KINGDOM beaten.
This movie is a waste of time - By: F. Panin, 28 May 2008 
Around an apparently complicated plot, an overly long screen play is developed that, in fact, could be jotted down in 2 lines.
Things happen that one tries to link together in vain. Playing is not great (Matt Damon seems to have developed a preference for roles where he does not need any facial expression, George Clooney does not give much clue on what goes in his mind, though in this respect Jeffrey Wright reaches the apex).
I am sure anyone has a better to spend 2 hours than watching this movie.
Well researched, great cast, great photography but.... - By: K. Alexander, 24 Mar 2008 It's hard to understand how the makers of this film could get so much of it right but end up with such a poor quality, hard to watch movie; the answer, I believe, is in the plot, which moves around randomly with little development of any of the characters & many characters who seem completely superfluous to the story.
Having said that, it was good to see a movie that did not merely demonize those countries that are un-alllied to American foreign policy but instead tried to express the philosophy of its opponents against the cultural backdrop from which they emerge - quite an achievement from the country that decided to re-name French fries 'Freedom fries' because of the opposition of France to the war in Iraq.
All in alll, this movie was definitely one of the least entertaining ways that I've spent my time & money in recent years & I reallly can't recommend it.
The first hour is awful, but it gets better - By: Garry Williams, 13 Mar 2008 
This is one of the most complicated films I've seen, & I was lost, completely lost, for the first hour or so. But this is surely intentional (the producers actuallly gave sheets with character bios to the critics when they sent their film out to be reviewed, so they were well aware that it was going to be complicated). To be honest, you will spend the first hour not knowing who is who, who is working for whom, etc. I've read Roger Ebert's review who says that this does not matter, as our confusion is the same as the confusion among the people in the film, ie they have no idea who is 'good' or 'bad' (or are they alll 'bad'). I don't buy that: I think that it would be a better film had the first hour been a tad clearer. In the end, I almost never got to see the ending, as I was beginning to get reallly fed up (I don't like to feel stupid, & I felt stupid during that first hour). I'm glad I stayed with this one, as it turned out to be quite a good thriller, & very subversive (good old Clooney!). I can well imagine every single thing in the film happening for real - the oil, the corruption... for that, Clooney deserves an applause. But as far as the storytelling is concerned, it's just so confusing, I can't give it more than 2 stars. Which is a shame, as I love a good thriller, & I believe 100% in the premise
Excellent political commentary. Highly recommended. - By: Jane Louise, 13 Mar 2008 
This is an excellent political commentary about the way The West (including Britiain & America) treat those working for the oil industry, whether migrant workers or executives. Whether you support the oil industry in these behaviours could well affect your appreciation of the film.
It's not a difficult film to follow. The main plot is shown through three different sets of characters, each within their own setting: Clooney's agent, Damon's Oil exec family & the Migrant workers. Those characters move areas or countries & travel in the same way you'd expect them to in real life.
It's an interesting, thought-provoking, well-filmed commentary, & anyone with an interest in global & current affairs should enjoy this film.
