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Syriana

  • 2005
  • R
  • 2h 8m
IMDb RATING
6.9/10
132K
YOUR RATING
Syriana (2005)
Trailer for Syriana
Play trailer2:24
19 Videos
99+ Photos
DramaThriller

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

  • Director
    • Stephen Gaghan
  • Writers
    • Stephen Gaghan
    • Robert Baer
  • Stars
    • George Clooney
    • Matt Damon
    • Amanda Peet
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.9/10
    132K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Stephen Gaghan
    • Writers
      • Stephen Gaghan
      • Robert Baer
    • Stars
      • George Clooney
      • Matt Damon
      • Amanda Peet
    • 657User reviews
    • 342Critic reviews
    • 76Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 13 wins & 30 nominations total

    Videos19

    Syriana
    Trailer 2:24
    Watch Syriana
    Syriana
    Trailer 2:13
    Watch Syriana
    Syriana
    Trailer 2:24
    Watch Syriana
    Syriana
    Clip 0:58
    Watch Syriana
    Syriana
    Clip 0:47
    Watch Syriana
    Syriana
    Clip 1:00
    Watch Syriana
    Syriana
    Clip 0:44
    Watch Syriana
    Syriana Scene: Now That You Are My Economic Advisor
    Clip 1:06
    Watch Syriana Scene: Now That You Are My Economic Advisor
    Syriana Scene: Why Am I Being Investigated
    Clip 0:48
    Watch Syriana Scene: Why Am I Being Investigated
    Syriana Scene: If Anything Happens To Me Or My Family
    Clip 1:11
    Watch Syriana Scene: If Anything Happens To Me Or My Family
    Syriana Scene: My Parents Are Professional Liars
    Clip 1:05
    Watch Syriana Scene: My Parents Are Professional Liars
    Syriana Scene: How Do You Think It Looks To Profit From Your Dead Son
    Clip 0:45
    Watch Syriana Scene: How Do You Think It Looks To Profit From Your Dead Son

    Photos168

    Stephen Gaghan in Syriana (2005)
    Chris Cooper and Jeffrey Wright in Syriana (2005)
    Matt Damon and Amanda Peet in Syriana (2005)
    George Clooney in Syriana (2005)
    Amr Waked, Sonnell Dadral, and Mazhar Munir in Syriana (2005)
    George Clooney in Syriana (2005)
    George Clooney and Mark Strong in Syriana (2005)
    George Clooney in Syriana (2005)
    George Clooney and Max Minghella in Syriana (2005)
    Matt Damon in Syriana (2005)
    Chris Cooper and Jeffrey Wright in Syriana (2005)
    George Clooney in Syriana (2005)

    Top cast

    Edit
    George Clooney
    George Clooney
    • Bob Barnes
    Matt Damon
    Matt Damon
    • Bryan Woodman
    Amanda Peet
    Amanda Peet
    • Julie Woodman
    Kayvan Novak
    Kayvan Novak
    • Arash
    Amr Waked
    Amr Waked
    • Mohammed Sheik Agiza
    Christopher Plummer
    Christopher Plummer
    • Dean Whiting
    Jeffrey Wright
    Jeffrey Wright
    • Bennett Holiday
    Chris Cooper
    Chris Cooper
    • Jimmy Pope
    Robert Foxworth
    Robert Foxworth
    • Tommy Barton
    Nicky Henson
    Nicky Henson
    • Sydney Hewitt
    Nicholas Art
    • Riley Woodman
    Steven Hinkle
    Steven Hinkle
    • Max Woodman
    Daisy Tormé
    Daisy Tormé
    • Rebecca
    Peter Gerety
    Peter Gerety
    • Leland Janus
    Richard Lintern
    Richard Lintern
    • Bryan's Boss
    Jocelyn Quivrin
    Jocelyn Quivrin
    • Vincent
    Mazhar Munir
    Mazhar Munir
    • Wasim Khan
    Shahid Ahmed
    • Saleem Ahmed Khan
    • Director
      • Stephen Gaghan
    • Writers
      • Stephen Gaghan
      • Robert Baer(book "See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism") (suggestion)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      George Clooney suffered a spinal injury during a stunt. Due to the weight he gained for his role, the injury left him bedridden for a month and caused severe migraines, which prevented him from doing publicity for Ocean's Twelve (2004). The injury was eventually corrected with surgery. Clooney has since called his weight gain "pretty stupid".
    • Goofs
      (at arouns 3 mins) The scene is supposed to be located in Tehran, but on the license plate of Bob's car it is misspelled as Nehran (one dot failing). In Iranian movies and serials, cars have white license plates with all characters in one line, but this license plate is yellow with the text written on two lines. The Arabic numerals 4, 5 and 6 are different from the Persian numerals; this license plate shows an Arabic 4 and 6.
    • Quotes

      Bryan Woodman: But what do you need a financial advisor for? Twenty years ago you had the highest Gross National Product in the world, now you're tied with Albania. Your second largest export is secondhand goods, closely followed by dates which you're losing five cents a pound on... You know what the business community thinks of you? They think that a hundred years ago you were living in tents out here in the desert chopping each other's heads off and that's where you'll be in another hundred years, so, yes, on behalf of my firm I accept your money.

    • Crazy credits
      There are no opening credits after the title is shown.
    • Connections
      Featured in HBO First Look: Syriana (2005)
    • Soundtracks
      Let Da Monkey Out
      Written by Redman (as Reggie Noble), Erick Sermon and Johnny 'Guitar' Watson (as Johnny Guitar Watson)

      Performed by Redman

      Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group

      Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

      Contains samples from "If I Had The Power"

      Performed by Johnny 'Guitar' Watson

      Courtesy of Concord Music Group, Inc.

    User reviews657

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    See no evil
    The interesting novel by Robert Baer seems to tell it all about "Syriana". It is a tale that is driven by the ambition of a few unscrupulous people who will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. In a way, Mr. Baer's novel as well as the film seems to be reaffirming Niccolo Machiavelli's "The ends justify the means"

    Stephen Gaghan's first major directorial job presents the story in multiple settings running at the same time, which, for a great majority of the public will prove disorienting. Mr. Gaghan has adapted for the screen material like the one in "Syriana" before, so he wasn't a stranger working in that format.

    What "Syriana" presents is a sort of rat race for the control of the oil in the Persian Golf, by whatever means necessary. Ultimately, the ones in control of that commodity will dominate the world. We are given about five different narratives in the film that interplay one another in the most unexpected ways. In fact, all these different subplots have a lot more in common than really meets the eye. One could almost recommend the viewing of the film a couple of times in order for all the different parts to come together in our minds and by doing so, the viewer will see the inner mechanisms of this intricate tale of corruption, greed and power.

    The cast is enormous. There are a lot of different acting styles in the film. An almost unrecognizable George Clooney plays Bob Barnes, the CIA operative fallen from grace who is instrumental in set the story in motion and who reappears at the end at the climax of the action. Jeffrey Wright does a tremendous job as the lawyer who discovers the hidden mystery in a performance that is completely different from whatever he has done before in the screen. Matt Damon plays the ambitious young man who is at the top of his profession and can help Prince Nasir with his revolutionary views about changes in his country and the Arab world. Ultimately, Wasim, the poor Pakistani guest worker makes the case for the displaced youth of that world that is willing to go ahead and commit the ultimate sacrifice.

    There are also good appearances by some seasoned actors that only appear shortly. Tim Blake Nelson, Chris Cooper, Jayne Atkinson, Akbar Kurtha, William Hurt, Christopher Plummer, Robert Foxworth and the rest are seen briefly.

    Robert Elswit photographed the film in the different locations and makes it look better. The music score by Alexandre Desplat is heard in the background without interrupting the action. The editing by Tim Squires works well with the action. Stephen Gaghan shows he can do well working with Mr. Baer's material and made an interesting film that while it will irritate some viewers, on the whole he had the right idea in the way to tell this story.
    helpful•96
    46
    • jotix100
    • Jan 6, 2006

    FAQ2

    • Can you give me a step by step explanation of the movie?
    • How did Bryan Woodman's (Matt Damon) son die?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • December 9, 2005 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • United Arab Emirates
    • Official sites
      • Warner Bros. (Japan)
      • Warner Bros. (United Kingdom)
    • Languages
      • English
      • Urdu
      • Arabic
      • Persian
      • French
      • Mandarin
    • Also known as
      • See No Evil
    • Filming locations
      • Casablanca, Morocco
    • Production companies
      • Warner Bros.
      • Participant
      • 4M
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $50,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $50,824,620
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $374,502
      • Nov 27, 2005
    • Gross worldwide
      • $93,974,620
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 8 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • DTS
      • Dolby Digital
      • SDDS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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