Syriana

Takes off with the lightning speed of a thriller, the gonzo force of frontline journalism and the emotional wallop of a drama that puts a human face on shocking statistics. more

An endlessly fascinating movie. more

For two hours I felt like a kitten chasing an elusive ball of catnip that remained just beyond my paw. more

A film that transcends its obvious timeliness to say some elemental things about personal loyalty and institutional betrayal. more

A fearless and ambitious piece of work, made with equal parts passion and calculation, an unapologetically entertaining major studio release with compelling real-world relevance, a film that takes numerous risks and thrives on them all. more

What's so powerful about the film is the rich stories it tells and how it leads them like so many human tributaries to one black, bubbling source. more

Clooney, who gained 35 pounds for the role, gives a self-effacing but highly effective performance. more

A gripping and fascinating tale of political intrigue that spans three continents, its focus trained on the volatile Middle East. It's a global portrait of danger, deception and disillusionment, with no dearth of human casualties. more

In today's environment, it's a rare thing to find a movie with interesting characters in dense, intelligent storylines, but that's what Syriana offers. It is one of the best films of 2005. more

A gripping movie about espionage, loyalty and betrayal. more

I won't try to restate or expand upon previous reviews found here for Syriana. Many contributors have offered a better reviews of the content of Syriana than I could describe. But I will point out that whether Syriana is for you or not, has more to do with the movie-goer, than the movie itself. Consider: 1) Can you check your political prejudices at the front door? 2) Are you willing to attempt to follow four "chess games" simultaneously? 3) Have you the courage to feel really upset at the end? If you can answer "YES" to all three questions, then Syriana may just be one of the most... more

I would say this plot offers up more suspense and intriguing details than any Tom Clancy movie I've ever seen. It wasn't until about an hour into the story that things finally started to make sense. But, from that point on, I was hanging onto every word and piecing together every detail. The trick to understanding this movie before it's over is to remember the names. Once you get to the point when you know who's who, everything else unfolds from there. Syriana does a profound job of putting you into the minds of the impressionable and disheartened middle eastern youth who are easily... more

Gagan's ideas based film -- while lacking the visual virtuosity of Traffic -- raises some very interesting questions indeed. But all is lost to a collective audience who thinks the "24" is complex and challenging or "Crash" is deep... It seems that the US audience are so used to "film as pure sensory entertainment" that it infuriated them when nothing is resolved. I find most "bad reviews" (either here or in the press) are laced with misinformation, xenophobia, partisanship bias and juvenille comments. It is unfortunate that doing a narratively complex film offering an alternative view... more