Syriana

[Stan4dSteph]

Has anyone seen Syriana yet? I'm thinking of going to see this and am wondering how it is. It appears to be getting largely positive reviews.

[scaeagles]

I can't stomach George Clooney, so I won't be.

[Gemini Cricket]

I love George Clooney. I'm going to see it. I loved 'Good Night and Good Luck'.
:)

[Motorboat Cruiser]

I watched a "Making of" the other day and the movie looked very interesting. I'm looking forward to seeing it, maybe not at theater price, but definitely at netflix price when it becomes available. :)

[Stan4dSteph]

Here are my thoughts, copied from a post elsewhere, after viewing Syriana:

Saw Syriana this past Sunday. Wow. It's hard to describe my reaction to it, but it really affected me. I suppose my initial response as the movie ended was sad and confused.

It's an extremely interesting movie, but very complex. The various plot lines that seem so disparate at the beginning begin to come together as it progress. There are a lot of characters to keep track of.

The torture scene was very difficult to watch. I'll spare any further spoilers for those who haven't seen it though. Toward the end of the film, one character did something that really got me thinking though. What was his motivation for that? It's not particularly clear. On the surface, it seems he was just trying to stop what was happening. But as with the movie, I have a feeling there are more layers beneath.

I guess it just makes me sad to think that this kind of thing could go on, does go on in the world. That oil barons and their government cronies are the puppetmasters for so many lives.

An older woman commented as she was leaving "I couldn't tell who were the good guys and who were the bad guys." My reaction was a cynical smile. Isn't that the truth these days? The days of the white and black hats are long gone.

In the end, I couldn't help thinking that I hope Whiting gets what's coming to him. Would that make me a white hat or a black one?

[innerSpaceman]

I was less than impressed. It's not that I found it too confusing, or that the underlying theme of oil-company evil was uncompelling. I just found the characters and the plot less than vitally interesting.

I think this one has been way over-rated.




(Hmmm, I was similarly unimpressed with that other critically lauded film, The Constant Gardener, about pharm-company evil.)

[Alex]

For me, it was the best movie of 2005, narrowly topping Capote (and with the caveat that I haven't yet seen many likely very good movies from 2005).

Of course, the tension may have been artificially elevated by the fact that I had to pee about 30 minutes into this 150 minute movie and I was afraid of missing something so couldn't leave until it was over.

I will say that Clooney, in promoting the movie, engaged in a marvelous piece of misdirection (saw him do it on three different interviews).

[Stan4dSteph]

I will say that Clooney, in promoting the movie, engaged in a marvelous piece of misdirection (saw him do it on three different interviews).I didn't see any of his interviews for this film. Did he misdirect the fact that his character is blown to smithereens? I couldn't believe that it was going to happen. I kept expecting them to run. I wondered if his character realized what would happen, and had decided that his death would result in getting revenge on Whiting.

[Alex]

Yeah, that's it.

He'd make comments like, "It's very tense, you never know who is going to live or die...though my character did write the book the movie is based on..."

I happened to catch the last 30 minutes of The Peacemaker the other night and it really is amazing how much Clooney has improved in his ability to project a screen presence. It really did come together for him when he figured out how to stop moving his all the time.

[BarTopDancer]

I am bumping this because I just saw it.

My feelings are mixed. Very complex, lost my attention in some places. The music was fortelling and a lot of the shock was ruined because of it.

By the end of the film I couldn't tell who were the good guys and who were the bad guys.

The tortue scene made me want to puke as did the electricoution scene.