Byzantine

If you're looking for fast car chases, sex and snappy one-liners, you shouldn't be looking here. If you want to see corporate greed and political corruption with no possible happy ending, then this one is for you.


Syriana

George Clooney directed and acted in this searing, very pointed political intrigue piece; kudos George, you kick politically incorrect butt.

Syriana takes you through a thought-provoking, in-your-face tour of the bizarre love triangle between he United States, the Middle East and big oil industry; how the deals that are made have less to do with economics and governmental policy and more to do with personal power and exploitation of the poor to achieve such. While Syriana is based on a non-fiction book, it makes big claims to be purely fictional itself. It will not take much immagination for you to draw parallels between story characters and real-life entities.

You're going to be mad at the end.

Hold on tight because this one starts off with a bang and just becomes progressively more tense. From Houston to Saudi to Geneva the layers of activites and story lines are dense, you almost need a map to keep up with the Byzantine relationships. The CIA, big Houston oil, the Emir of Saudi Arabia (implied), Pakistani oil workers and an independent energy analyst are the pieces on the gameboard. The game is control the oil. Pawns and innocent bystanders are moved and removed as the King and Bishop conspire to checkmate themselves in this cyclic game where there are no winners.

Clooney, Matt Damon, Chirs Cooper and William Hurt are riveting, each giving their characters some subtle nuances that only seasoned actors can do. But you expect them to be good. A couple of surprising performances by some people I didn't know but will look out for in the future.


Alexandar Siddig

This eerily beautiful Sudanese man plays one of the Emir's two sons; he's the smart one who wants to take the oil profits to rebuild the infrastructure of his country and instill social reform. The other son just wants to spend like a shoe-whore in Nordstrom.

If looks could kill, Siddig would leave a path of destruction in his wake.


Mazhar Munir
Mazhar Munir plays one of the Pakistani oil workers who becomes involved with a fundamentalist religious group. He has such innocent and caring undertones in the beginning but you know exactly where his story will end. He progresses from one stage to the next like a pro.

The soundtrack to Syriana is rhythmic, primal beats with electronica - mezmerizing, I loved it. I was probably from some Middle Eastern country in a former life :)

9.5/10

Syriana