Syriana

Prepare to be baffled but intrigued by the intricacy of this admirably serious but ultimately untidy, schematic, and rather self-important take on the nexus between American business and government—specifically petroleum mega-corporations and the entrenched power brokers that often determine U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. The script by Stephen Gaghan, who also directs, resembles his earlier Traffic, serving up a series of interconnected plotlines shuffled like cinematic cards in a game: one involves a rumpled CIA agent (Oscar-winner George Clooney) who sells a missile on the black market that ends up in the hands of Islamic militants; another concerns a Washington attorney (Jeffrey Wright) assigned to oversee a merger between two oil exploration firms being investigated by the Justice Department; a third follows an idealistic energy consultant (Matt Damon) hired to advise an equally idealistic Persian Gulf prince; and a fourth centers on a young Pakistani worker drawn to radicalism. One has to admire the dexterity with which Gaghan juggles the elements of his convoluted narrative, but while most of the plots, subplots, and digressions are tied up fairly successfully by the close, viewers are likely to be mystified along the way by some of the murkier moments and constant shifts of focus (even when everything is finally explained, many may find the overarching theme a bit banal). Still, Syriana, for all its awkwardness, is a film that effectively captures the current justifiably paranoid zeitgeist. Recommended. [Note: Available in either widescreen or full screen versions, DVD extras include an 11-minute “Make a Change, Make a Difference” PSA-like featurette, a nine-minute “Conversation” with executive producer and star George Clooney (9 min.), three deleted scenes (6 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a disappointingly small extras package for one of 2005's most challenging films.] (F. Swietek)