Syriana (Stephen Gaghan, 2005)

[toiletduck!]

I also don't see the point of all the father-son conflicts that constantly distract from the central issue and I'm not exactly sure what we are supposed to take from Matt Damon almost getting blown to pieces and then returning to his family. So, wealthy white business-folk will finally understand the cost of our dependence upon oil once they lose a son and nearly get reduced to a Saudi sand-trap? Realistically, couldn't his conscience have been "cleansed" another way? Actually, I'm not even sure he learned anything from the experience.

My largest complaint was the overblown father-son theme as well, but most significantly with Jeffrey Wright and obligatory drunken father.

The Damon homecoming scene really hit me, though. I know that there was a certain sense of defeatism in all the storylines, but when Damon locked eyes with his wife, my heart sunk in that 'why bother' kind of way. It was one thing for Wright to make the compromises he did or for Clooney and Nassir to die face to face at the hands of the U.S. because they all had their hands already slightly dirty. But Damon's was a loss of innocence in a sense. That upset me, which I believe was Gaghan's intent.

-Toilet Dcuk

[Andre Jurieu]

My largest complaint was the overblown father-son theme as well, but most significantly with Jeffrey Wright and obligatory drunken father.

Agreed. That's the portion of the story that I thought was totally useless. I'm also not sure why I should care that Clooney's son thinks his parents are liars, or why Damon's actions in Saudi Arabia have to be fueled by the loss of his son... and I usually fall all over father-issues.

The Damon homecoming scene really hit me, though. I know that there was a certain sense of defeatism in all the storylines, but when Damon locked eyes with his wife, my heart sunk in that 'why bother' kind of way. It was one thing for Wright to make the compromises he did or for Clooney and Nassir to die face to face at the hands of the U.S. because they all had their hands already slightly dirty. But Damon's was a loss of innocence in a sense. That upset me, which I believe was Gaghan's intent.

I have no problem if the scene stirred emotion for you (lord knows I get emotional at some very odd scenes), I just don't really enjoy how we arrived at that point. I don't know if I buy Damon as being innocent, since he seems to have a in-depth understanding of the way the industry works and the political chess-game taking place. Perhaps he's just naive that as a US foreigner he is safe from being physically harmed by his own government in the name of greater profit and security. Maybe he's just naive to the fact that his actions matter in the grand scheme of things and that his advice to the Prince is actually harming US interests. The only problem is that he should know better considering he's being handed a seat next to a man with enormous political/economic power within the world's biggest crude player. I guess I just thought the whole missile strike was a bit over-dramatic, and it seemed rather absurd that Damon would survive. It seemed like an unnecessary explosion to keep thing entertaining. I would think that Damon's character would have reached his moment of enlightenment through other means.

[toiletduck!]

Naive is a good way to put it. I see him as someone who, yes, is aware of the political chess-game occurring, but is unaware of the depths it plunges and/or the lengths those involved are willing to go to. Also, the "Look, the U.S. is causing the problems." confrontation that Damon and Nassir have shows that Damon knows that this is politically driven, but knows very little about what's going on behind the wheel. Plus Nassir is basically hiring him on to dwell in ideals, so it was easy enough for me to accept that Damon is willing to suspend what little he does know in pursuit of what he believes is the greater good.

Granted, the explosion scene was really sudden and chock full of coincidentals, but by "the Canadian...", I was hooked.

and it seemed rather absurd that Damon would survive.

Yeah, I've got nothing for that one...

-Toilet Dcuk

[Fletch F. Fletch]

Recent interview with Robert Baer over at GreenCine: http://www.greencine.com/article?action ... icleID=302

And I stumbled across this excellent excerpt from his book, See No Evil. Definitely wanna read the whole thing now: http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/st ... 33,00.html