Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Oil Field of Dreams

This weekend I watched two very different movies. One movie was very sexy but had a less than stellar plotline. The other movie wasn't what I'd call sexy - though the yummy Matt Damon is in it - but rather a movie that will be considered a classic geo-political commentary. Kind of like what I imagine All The President's Men or The Manchurian Candidate to be like had I actually seen either one of them.

Syriana feels and looks a lot like Soderbergh's other flick, Traffic. Although one movie is about drugs and the other is about oil, the common denominator is the same: both are good for the United States.

Suprisingly, Syriana is an enjoyable movie for people who don't really care about the oil crisis. The lack of overt finger pointing is what makes this film so interesting because the movie makes it seem as though everybody has finger in the Middle Eastern pie with the message being it's good for business to be on the right side of the Arab Emirates.

And those Israeli schools? A lot of religion + a heaping of fanaticism + a dash of deprivation = the perfect terrorist willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for Allah. It's scary how accurate this movie could be.

The plot is difficult to follow at times but interesting scenery helps to keep it moving. Overall, Syriana is insightful, well played, suberbly acted (love that Chris Cooper & George Clooney) and with a running time of slightly over 2 hours, it's a nice break from parenthood.

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