Syriana

Saw this film Saturday night. Not a moment of it was I not thinking. Thinking. Thinking. What's going on? What's happening? What does that mean? How do those relate to one another? Lawyers, politicians, terrorists, FBI, young Muslims, families, foreign policy, Princes, poverty, fat cats, oil men, my car, suicide bombers.

Some of the critics have said, and I agree:

"Syriana is the starting point for an intense and lengthy conversation."

"it'll make you angry, it'll make you think and it'll scare the hell out of you."

"Seldom have form, content and cultural sensibility been so excitably aligned as in this fascinating, exasperating film about the unholy marriage of power politics and global business."

"The thematic temperature of "Syriana" runs hot and doesn't waste a single second of film time."

"a profound reflection of our own scary reality."

"Adept at delivering macro and micro perspectives without moralism or conviction."

For me, this is a thriller that did not thrill so much as leave a bitter taste in the mouth. It again frames some of the reasons for global military and political posturing, while leaving the viewer to draw their own conclusions and perhaps, judgements. And, finally I concluded, as this writer did, that the film shows:

"a little of how the world really works -- and that the world's dark machinations are every bit as sordid and pitiless as your worst suspicions." There are times when I loath America :o(