Syriana (2005)

A politically-charged epic about the state of the oil industry in the hands of those personally involved and affected by it.

Director:

Stephen Gaghan

Writers:

Stephen Gaghan, Robert Baer (book)

Stars:

Kayvan Novak, George Clooney, Matt Damon

Won 1 Oscar. Another 9 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kayvan Novak	...	Arash
George Clooney	...	Bob Barnes
Amr Waked	...	Mohammed Sheik Agiza
Christopher Plummer	...	Dean Whiting
Jeffrey Wright	...	Bennett Holiday
Chris Cooper	...	Jimmy Pope
Robert Foxworth	...	Tommy Barton
Nicky Henson	...	Sydney Hewitt
Nicholas Art	...	Riley Woodman
Matt Damon	...	Bryan Woodman
Amanda Peet	...	Julie Woodman
Steven Hinkle	...	Max Woodman
Daisy Tormé	...	Rebecca
Peter Gerety	...	Leland Janus
Richard Lintern	...	Bryan's Boss

Storyline

A missile disappears in Iran, but the CIA has other problems: the heir to an Emirate gives an oil contract to China, cutting out a US company that promptly fires its immigrant workers and merges with a small firm that has landed a Kazakhstani oil contract. The Department of Justice suspects bribery, and the oil company's law firm finds a scapegoat. The CIA also needs one when its plot to kill the Emir-apparent fails. Agent Bob Barnes, the fall guy, sorts out the double cross. An American economist parlays the death of his son into a contract to advise the sheik the CIA wants dead. The jobless Pakistanis join a fundamentalist group. All roads start and end in the oil fields.

---

Plot Keywords:

oil | cia | oil company | immigrant | emirate | 

---

Taglines:

Everything is connected

---

Genres:

Drama | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [jp] Warner Bros. [uk]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Urdu Arabic Persian French Mandarin

Release Date:

9 December 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

See No Evil

Filming Locations:

Annapolis, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$75,781 (Hong Kong) (31 March 2006)

Gross:

$50,815,288 (USA) (14 April 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Participant Productions, 4M

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michelle Monaghan originally had a more substantial role in the film. When screening audiences reacted negatively to the long running time, her sub-plot was removed.

---

Goofs

At the beginning of the movie, when the woman changes her clothes and puts pants on, she also changes from high heels to sneakers. When she walks away, her shoes sound like high heels.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Arash: Bobby, where have you been?

---

Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits after the title is shown.

---

Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.4 (2012)

---

Soundtracks

"Wasp Nest"
(2004)
Written by Matt Berninger (as Matthew Donald Berninger) and Aaron Dessner (as Aaron Brooking Dessner)
Performed by The National
Courtesy of Brassland

User Reviews

Go See It

Initially I wanted to compare it with Traffic, same style and interwoven story lines, but the film itself stopped me from doing so. Thank you. Comparing films can so difficult, you know, the old apples v. oranges thing. This film stands on its own without the comparison or the similarities to Traffic.

Just before I went to the movie theatre, I saw an interview with Steve Gaghan the director on the Charlie Rose Show, and probably this helped me to fit most of the pieces together. The scene where Bob (Clooney) is taken to visit Hezbollah leaders, is based on the exact experience the director had when researching the story. He said that most of the film was based on his or Bob's actual experiences.

So what do we have....Oil, big oil, oil executives, oil analysts, oil geography, oil politics, big time oil power brokers, CIA, Islamic terrorists, Middle East culture....It's all there. And Steve Gaghan does a very good job in bringing it all together. His directorial debut. Very good acting all round, maybe the oldest boy and his mother Amanda Peet stand out.

I walked out of the theatre in an emotional daze, if that's possible. I will see this film again.

My coda.... What a rotten, ugly barrel of oil.