Tue, December 13, 2005

In an awards season that has not lived up to expectations, the first result is that I've started to regard many of the films on my to-do list as a lot less essential. After Jarhead and Good Night, and Good Luck failed to capture my heart, I started to place a lot less priority on Syriana. Both of those were engaging and – overall – well constructed, but left my expectations unmet. My enthusiasm was dampened, in part, by political guilt. I have no problem enjoying movies that agree with my politics, but lately I leave the theatre cringing, afraid that they're just providing more ammunition for those who reject Hollywood as a hotbed of rampant liberal propagandism. I'm not often called upon to defend Hollywood's politics (in fact, it never happens), but for some reason I bear the weight of this battle on my shoulders and in the pit of my stomach after I see a movie with such bald-faced political leanings.

Which is silly, I know, but movies have always been about escapism. Can't we all stop fighting, and just watch a giant monkey throw a tree at a T. rex?

The cast of Syriana is a delightful surprise that keeps on delighting – the ensemble includes George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, and Christopher Plummer, but as the story unfolds it incorporates Chris Cooper, Amanda Peet, Tim Blake Nelson, and William Hurt. All excellent, each adding sincerity and passion to the project, none garnering enough screen time to really deliver a nuanced performance. In the same way the immense ensemble of The Thin Red Line left me feeling cheated about many of the characters' back stories, Syriana strips away much of its supporting narrative in order to focus on the twisting events at the center of its conspiracy, which cuts the legs from under the family drama of Matt Damon and Amanda Peet, and trims the most interesting aspects of George Clooney's motivations and decisions in the film's third act.

As far as its politics, Syriana lives up to expectations. What Syriana does expertly is distill the complex and far-flung geopolitical issues involved in the war on terror into a relatable story you can watch. (Just as writer-director Stephen Gaghan did with the drug war in his previous screenplay, Traffic.) Where it comes up short is weaving these issues into a story you can understand. (Again, like Traffic.) The film follows a series of converging stories from all over the globe, involving multiple government agencies, business conglomerates, cartels, and mercenaries. It skips from one to the next so quickly that it's hard to determine whether two consecutive scenes are linked narratively, thematically, or just temporally. There were many times I could only discern the plot details because I knew George Clooney's political views. Something would happen that could have any number of explanations (sheer coincidence being near the top of the list), but knowing the "point" of the movie, I would assume that the oil companies had pressured the CIA into assassinating someone.

It's a complex issue, though, so it's acceptable for the plot to be complex. I'm not one of those people who wish the actors on The West Wing would talk slower. I'm fine playing catch-up. I'm just happier when the end result feels like a whole thing. In this case, it feels more like a pile of interesting evidence – all very worthy of consideration and thought – but no real conclusions. I've always thought of 2001: A Space Odyssey as not a narrative, but a manual about life in space in the future. In the same way, Syriana is a primer for the war on terror and the oil trade – check it out and then talk about it after. Which is great, but as far as movies that are awesome – they need to be awesome during the movie as well as after.

After watching Syriana, I felt – well, guilty, to begin with – but also intrigued and troubled by a lot of the evidence and ideas it presented. I certainly felt confused, but I also felt educated. I knew I had enjoyed it (and – as Arrested Development brilliantly put it – I knew I couldn't say I hadn't enjoyed it, or I might look stupid). But I didn't feel entertained and I didn't feel overwhelmed with the power of its message, either. It's a fascinating and deeply felt portrayal of the complexities of navigating commerce or politics on a global scale, but it serves better as a conversation starter than as a product unto itself.

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