What Big Oil Wants, it Gets: A DVD Review

The movie “Syriana” came into theaters in 2005 and won George Clooney an Academy Award. At the time the critics praised it but they warned that the plot was a labyrinth and almost impossible to understand. Upon hearing that it was determined by me that I would simply not try to connect all of the dots or put all of the pieces together and that I would just watch the movie and watch the performances. Although the DVD has been out for a while, I must recommend this movie because you cannot watch it without having the feeling that this is true.

Essentially what you need to know about the plot is that big oil companies have gained such power that they can influence the policies of not only this country but the countries where the oil comes from. That, in a nutshell, is the point of this movie. The details as to how each individual story fits together are really secondary. This is a complex movie with very adult themes and that trusts its audience. This is a movie that does not pause to explain at length what is happening. This movie trusts the people watching that they are adults and capable of adult thought and it makes its point and moves on. This is a rare thing in modern movies.

The cast list is very impressive and it is long. Matt Damon, George Clooney, Amanda Peet, Christopher Plummer, Jeffrey White, Christ Cooper, Tim Blake Nelson. The main characters and those whose stories you follow are Clooney, Damon, White and the story of a man who wishes to become the next Emir of his country played by Alexander Siddig. Also within this story is that of a man looking for work who ends up recruited by a fundamentalist Muslim group and ends up a suicide bomber.

Each of these stories is told compellingly. Matt Damon’s character is an energy analyst living in Geneva who ends up invited to a party thrown by the Emir in some foreign land. He accepts on a whim and pressured by his co-workers. What happens at that party sets him onto a path he has not predicted and that brings him toward a conclusion that brings together his story, that of the prince and that of George Clooney.

Clooney shows he deserved his Academy Award by turning in a fantastic performance as a CIA operative pretty much on his way out. He is a man looking to stop playing around in the field that has become increasingly dangerous for him and to settle down behind a desk until he can retire. The problem is he has trouble keeping his mouth shut at the right times. Soon he is back in Lebanon and meeting face-to-face with the leader of Hezbollah. Not long after that he is tied to a chair being tortured in a scene that beats the one from “Reservoir Dogs.” Trust me, this is a scene that is not easy to watch.

Jeffrey Wright is a lawyer who is looking into the merger of two large energy companies. He has to prove that these companies are doing their due diligence and that may mean certain people may need to be sacrificed to keep appearances up. He is not a lawyer meant to show some great noble quest. He is a lawyer who knows how this game needs to be played and he plays it.

The tale of the young prince is very compelling. His father is aging and his younger brother seems to show more interest in partying and becoming some kind of rock star. His younger brother wants to keep things in his country the same as they have been. Of course, to the oil companies and the United States this is fine with them. That means the oil keeps flowing. His older brother, however, wants to make changes. He has lofty goals. He wants the Arab countries to start better-controlling the oil and to start exporting oil to China. Needless to say, this will not due and that sets things into motion with the CIA and the politicians owned by big oil.

These performances feel very real. Not once did I feel it was George Clooney playing an aging CIA agent. I felt his character was real. The story of the worker who ends up a terrorist is also compelling and shows how these men get jerked around by the large companies and how this could easily lead to disillusion and spin someone into fundamentalism.

These tales are told with equal weight and drama. There are a few stray plotlines that seem to go nowhere. The Jeffrey Wright character has an alcoholic father who shows up from time to time but seems to go nowhere and add nothing to the overall plot. Amanda Peet’s character is very well portrayed but limited perhaps due to time and I felt she could have had a bigger role. These are small quibbles, however.

One of the standout performances is that of Tim Black Nelson. You may have seen him in “O, Brother Where Are Thou?” In this movie he plays one of the executives at the energy company that is trying to complete its merger. He gives a speech about corruption and how corruption makes the entire system work that has to stand up there with Michael Douglas’ speech about greed in “Wall Street.” It is a brief performance but impassioned and memorable.

This is, in short, a very good movie. It may make you angry. It is amazing to think that this kind of thing must be going on. The United States is in very dangerous waters with its reliance on a substance that exists only a few places on the planet. It seems a very cruel joke of nature that so much of this much-needed substance exists only in some of the most dangerous places on the planet. So, despite hating terrorism and the policies and morality that is evident in some of these countries the United States has to accept them and put up them because they need that resource. Therefore those who may want to bring about real change in this region are considered dangerous because any upsetting of the balance may cut off the flow of that substance.
“Syriana” is not a light-hearted movie. It is not a movie to sit by and watch passively. It tells multiple stories and it does it well. The performances are powerful. The camera-work is excellent. The plots are intricate and well-written. The overall plot may be too thick to see through, but if you take it in its component parts you can enjoy and amaze at excellent modern filmmaking.

In short, I recommend a viewing of this DVD. It will make you think. It will make you gasp in surprise. It will make you wonder about this country and who really runs whom.

Bryan W. Alaspa’s novel Dust is available in print and eBook format at www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.