trumpet blower88

I just finished watching the movie Syriana, and well... I don't get it. At all. I watched it with my family, we all agree that it simply does not make any sence.

To me, it seemed like the whole film was just snippet after snippet of unrelated ideas. Then, in a desperate attempt to make sence of it all, in the last few minuets they throw in some other random idea trying to explain that everything is related. But I still don't get it.

I was incredibly dissapointed. I'm the kind of person who likes a movie that makes you think at the end, something that you can disscuss with friends the next day and find all new twists and turns so that the entertainment value stays with your for a week or so. According to everything I read about it, it would seem that this is that kind of movie. Unfortunatly it was not.

It got great reviews, won awards, and had all kinds of hype. I just don't understand what so many people saw in this movie. What kind of things are these critics looking for that they found in this movie to make it so great?

I just don't get it, did anyone here see it and understand it? If you did, can you explain to me what was going on? (send me a pm if you don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't see it)

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PINCHUNO

It is quite a complicated movie. Basically (I think!) It's about how some shady characters with very high connections in the US government, through dirty deals and corruption amongst other things, choose a new leader of a powerful oil producing Arab state, create a new oil mining company (plenty of bribes going on there) so that they will get the lions share of the oil from this particular region. The different stories are connected, it's just that with so much espionage and intrigue going on, it does get a little confusing at times. George Clooney is a Cia operative who was sent to kill some terrorist cell, by pretending to be an arms dealer and then boobytrapping the missile he sells them. He didn't know however, that the 2nd missile was going somewhere else. That's what worried him.
As this is going on, we get different snippets of various people's lives intertwined. Matt Damon, as a merchant banker meeting with one of his company's clients, who happen to be the same Arab family who are about to appoint their country's new leader.
It's obvious that it should be the more intelligent of the two sons, who becomes the new leader, but as usual when money and political influence (Christopher Plummer) come into play, the more corrupt and controlable of the brothers is chosen. This is mainly because the first son, wanted the oil to stay in his country and build a new pipeline that would take it to regions where it wouldn't normally go and this obviously didn't interest the "bad guys" back in the USA.
The investigative lawyer (I forget his name) who has been sent to try and find evidence of corruption in the oil company merger (he too falls in the end and is bought out by the bad guys).
The young Pakistani boy and his father, who are left without a job, after their company is bought out by another, (this eventually leads to the boy joining a prayer group meeting, just so he can get the free food and gradually he is convinced that their line of thinking is similar to his and he goes on to become a suicide bomber for them)
As all this continues, Clooney, is trying to find out what happened to the other bomb and finds that as he investigates, his bosses try to distance themselves from him.
Basically it culminates in the final scene, where most of the chatacters meet. Damon is now working for the rightful (but passed over) Arab heir to the throne. Clooney has discovered that the powers that be want to kill this Prince because he wants to keep the oil in his country and the result is that they meet up in the desert he too falls in the blast. The younger of the 2 brothers (who is controlled by Plummer and company) becomes the new leader and all seems to be going well for the power brokers when the jobless Pakistani boy and his friend blow up the first oil super tanker to leave the depot that belongs to the newly merged (corrupt) oil company.
This is a very quick view of a complicated film. I hope it helped a little. Wether the film is to the political liking of everyone or not, it does seem to be quite an acurate view of some of America's oil companies and politicians dealings in the middle east.

MJ

Just watch it again trumpet blower. I was hoping for something a little bit better myself. But by the end of it I understood the point of the movie. This director was the same guy who did TRAFFIC several years ago. You got to pay really close attention.

And it turns out that missle is placed on the front of the boat used to ram the oil tanker.

Manny Laureano

That's quite the statement, Pinchuno. What are you using as basis for your opinion? Hope you don't mind the challenge but I imagine you'd expect it. Mind you, I'm not a big fan or hater of the oil companies, I'm pretty neutral. I was just curious as to your source for the info that would help you reach that conclusion.

ML

PINCHUNO

Yes I suppose it was a bit of a statement. No I don't mind the challenge at all. Hope nobody took it as a critique of the American people, just the companies and politicians involvedi.
I don't know about anyone else who gives their opinions on the web, but I certainly don't have time to be doing much "investigative journalism", looking up dates, transcripts of trials or investigations etc. every time I write something!
I just go by things that may have been seen on tv reports or in the newspapers and yes, dare I say it, old fashioned speculation based on a bit of common sense .I'm sure I'm not the only person who has written something down without being really sure wether it's totally true or not, I mean this is a trumpet forum after all! but I'm pretty sure given the reputation that most oil companies and politicians (Americans or not) have, my statement is probably not that far wrong.

Manny Laureano

Okay, then... I guess that says it all. Thanks.

ML

stchasking

Are you saying they used a missle in front of a boat to ram a supertanker?

This idea is stolen from the movie "African Queen".

You all rent the movie African Queen then let me know if Syriana is lifted from the plot line.

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Manny Laureano

Movies are like old clothes, stchasking, no? Keep them long enough and they'll come back. "Click" with Adam Sandler is very funny albeit unnecessarily swear-ridden. At any rate, it's a remake of a very famous movie which I won't refer to here because it'll give away the ending if I do. Go see it but leave the under 12 year olds at home.

ML

stchasking

Gosh, Yes! Some where I read that most good plot lines are lifted from Shakespear. Beauty and the Beast has been overworked for decades.

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