No, I`m not talking about George Clooney`s weight gain (ironic move considering Matt Damon`s weight *loss* that hospitalized him for Courage Under Fire). I am talking about the multiple storylines that weigh down this film (and apparently there were a few that were deleted, thank goodness). The most interesting one to me was that of the Pakistani teenagers working in the middle east as essentially skilled and unskilled labor. And also interesting was the fact, that for a major hollywood movie, a lot of the dialogue was unapologetically in Hindi/Urdu.
The thing about a film with a large number of characters, groups of whom are fairly similar in type to each other, is that its hard to keep the who`s who straight in your head. And you soon get lost trying to associate the extensive exposition presented per character, each time that character appears on screen (which sadly, was not often or long enough to make an impact in the case of Syriana).
But the concept of the film is useful to explore. According to screenwriter/director Stephen Gaghan, the stories today have moved to a place where the conspiracy is out in the open. Previously, the fact that the "villain" is the military-industrial complex would be the revelation of the film. Now, in today`s world, it`s the given. And Gaghan was curious to explore what kind of a story would result from this starting point.
Syriana is the answer, perhaps not the best one, but I did like this new take on the conspiracy thriller. It has its moments. But it wanders too much into the various interconnections that do indeed exist. Focus might have helped it make much more of an impact than it did.
Disclaimer: I`m not interested in nor commenting on the politics underlying this film! My interest is in the contemporary conspiracy thriller genre it represents.
Nikhil Kamkolkar
Blog:
http://www.INDIANRISING.com