Syriana

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Syriana

R

Released Dec 9, 2005

2h 8m

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

72%

Tomatometer

196 Reviews

67%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney) uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins.

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Critics Consensus

Ambitious, complicated, intellectual, and demanding of its audience, Syriana is both a gripping geopolitical thriller and wake-up call to the complacent.

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Zadie Smith

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Syriana is an American movie that reaches out beyond itself. Watching it made me feel hopeful -- a rare sensation in a cinema.

Jan 17, 2018

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Victoria Segal

New Statesman

... If you can avoid getting too hung up on the details, Syriana is a brave attempt to blitz the goody-baddy dynamics of cold-war film-making and concentrate on the ambiguities of modern geopolitics.

Sep 26, 2017

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J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

This is intelligent, committed, and politically provocative, though its narrative puzzle box may prompt you to throw up your hands and let ExxonMobil go on running the world.

Mar 30, 2009

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Michael Clark

Epoch Times

This movie is certainly not for all, or even most tastes. If you prefer something light, breezy, and uncomplicated, don’t even waste your time. It gets up in your face and under your skin and grows only more confrontational and damning as it progresses.

Rated: 5/5

May 13, 2022

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Micheal Compton

Bowling Green Daily News

A complex thriller that challenges its audience with a fascinating story woven among several plot threads.

Rated: A

Nov 19, 2019

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PJ Nabarro

Patrick Nabarro

I'm hard-pushed to think of a more cynical and self-critical American picture, and one that so radically and empathetically portrays the genesis of Islamic suicide bombers.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 16, 2018

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Kal S

A remote control and a really switched on friend will be your biggest assets when watching this film, so you can keep pausing to ask, ‘Sorry, who is that guy again, and what did he just say? And what country are we in now?’ There’s a good film in there somewhere which will challenge your beliefs about the good guys and the bad guys—what a shame it got lost in its own cleverness.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/20/24

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David H

I enjoyed the film, but I found it a little hard to follow in places. Traffic was a better film.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

10/14/23

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Jona I

Dizzying, which is some of the point. But there's still a difference between being effective and just plain ol' losing your audience in the maze of your own self-importance. A good performance from Clooney, but Oscar-winning???? .....Hmm. Methinks, they just wanted to honor him somehow for stepping up his game in the industry with all his directing and producing.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

08/25/23

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Gareth v

An intellectual, though provoking film that revoles around three interwoven stories on the murky waters of geo-politics.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/29/23

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Barry B

Complex and well acted - an enjoyable and educational 2 hours of entertainment

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/09/23

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Evan M

It's alright but really not all that much happens. Plot is not nearly as great as it thinks it is.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/20/23

Full Review

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Stephen Gaghan

Director

George Clooney

Robert Baer

Matt Damon

Bryan Woodman

Jeffrey Wright

Bennett Holiday

Amanda Peet

Julie Woodman

Chris Cooper

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Synopsis

The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes (George Clooney) uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins.

Director: Stephen Gaghan
Producer: George Clooney, Ben Cosgrove, Jennifer Fox
Screenwriter: Robert Baer, Stephen Gaghan, John Bowker
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: Warner Brothers
Rating: R (Violence|Language)
Genre: Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 9, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 1, 2009
Box Office (Gross USA): $50.8M
Runtime: 2h 8m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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