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:

George Clooney, Matt Damon, Amanda Peet

Won 1 Oscar. Another 13 wins & 28 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

American oil companies Connex and smaller Killen are undergoing a merger, the new company named Connex-Killen. The move is in response to Connex losing a number of oil fields in the Persian Gulf region as Prince Nasir Al-Subaai, his country's foreign minister, and the oldest son of the Emir and thus the heir apparent to the throne, signed a contract with the Chinese instead. As Killen somehow managed to get the contract for the oil fields in Kazahkstan, the merger would give Connex-Killen additional control of the industry in the Middle East. Connex's retained law firm, headed by Dean Whiting, assigns Bennett Holiday to demonstrate to the US Department of Justice that due diligence has been done to allow the merger to proceed i.e. that the merger would not break any antitrust regulations. The US government is unhappy with Prince Nasir's decision to award the contract to the Chinese, and in combination with issues around illegal weapons, the CIA assigns field agent Bob Barnes, who has ...

---

Plot Keywords:

oil | corruption | big oil | hezbollah | lebanon | 

---

Taglines:

Everything is connected

---

Genres:

Drama | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [Japan] Warner Bros. [UK]

Country:

USA United Arab Emirates

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 USA:

$374,502, 27 November 2005

Gross USA:

$50,824,620

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$93,974,620

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Participant Media, 4M

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the days leading up to the Oscar nominations, the Academy announced that the film's screenplay was considered original, not adapted. Since it had been strongly advertised as adapted, many believed the film would not be nominated. It was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, but lost to Crash (2004).

---

Goofs

When Bryan Woodman is handed the party invitation by his colleague, you could read the party will take place in "Casa Esperanza" (Hope House), Marbella, Spain. Upon his arrival, the Emir, who is the host of the party, calls the house "Casa de las Palmas".

---

Quotes

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

---

Crazy Credits

(Closing statement) While inspired by a non-fiction work, this motion picture and all of the characters and events portrayed in it (except for incidental archival footage), are fictional.

---

Connections

Featured in American Masters: You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story (2008)

---

Soundtracks

Chinatown
(2002)
Written and Performed by Do Make Say Think
Courtesy of Constellation Records

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.