Syriana 2005

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Syriana coolly dissects a system of duplicity, chicanery and corruption that has been in play for several decades now, and examines the consequences that it has borne. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Watch closely and listen carefully during Syriana because Stephen Gaghan's movie is that rarity: a thinking person's drama. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The film's weary, politically wary vibe sticks with you. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Though never a fan of Mr. Clooney onscreen, I doff my hat to him for checking his vanity at the door and trying to make movies with more significance than the weekend grosses in Variety. Read more

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. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: This is a cynical but undoubtedly accurate portrayal of the inner workings of international politics, where white-shoe lawyers and oil executives can be nearly as ruthless as the CIA hit men and missile-toting rebels. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: A gripping and daringly complex movie about How Things Get Done these days in the blood-drenched world of oil, politics and religion. Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: Your enjoyment of this movie will be in direct proportion to your patience. If you can stand not knowing everything right now and wait for the story's threads to weave into a rug, Syriana makes for an engaging time. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Intelligent, political, incensed, timely, and appropriately cynical. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: A fearless and ambitious piece of work, made with equal parts passion and calculation, an unapologetically entertaining major studio release with compelling real-world relevance, a film that takes numerous risks and thrives on them all. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Syriana is an ambitious edifice, built with conviction and skill. But I'm not sure I understand it, and I'm not sure I care. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Gaghan comes on like a heavyweight, but he's wearing kid gloves. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: Syriana is a fascinating movie -- and a substantive and thought-provoking one -- but it does not necessarily attain greatness. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: A purposely jagged and harsh news story of a film, Syriana attempts to take on the powers that run the world and for the most part it succeeds. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Syriana has a lot of big, important things to say about big, important things, and it says them with a sense of urgency. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: It forces you to intently watch and listen and ask questions, something that in the past six years has been skillfully portrayed as an unpatriotic response to an increasingly complex international scenario. Read more

Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News: Mr. Gaghan doesn't insult our intelligence, but he demands our attention. If you're up to those demands, you'll be rewarded. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: Seldom have form, content and cultural sensibility been so excitably aligned as in this fascinating, exasperating film about the unholy marriage of power politics and global business. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: Somehow, the movie convinces you, through its strengths of characterization and atmosphere, that it's showing a little of how the world really works -- and that the world's dark machinations are every bit as sordid and pitiless as your worst suspicions. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: Its dark, dog-eat-dog vision of the world we live in may give you geopolitical nightmares. Read more

Ken Tucker, New York Magazine/Vulture: As he did in Traffic, Gaghan intertwines his disparate subplots with impeccable pacing -- his screenplay is a model of how to arrange scenes so that each one ends leaving you wanting to know more. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: The stars are all good here ... (and they're aided by supporting work from dependable performers such as Chris Cooper, William Hurt and Christopher Plummer) and Clooney -- and his story -- really shines. Read more

David Edelstein, NPR's Fresh Air: In some ways, we're the protagonist, and when the strands coalesce in the last hour and we glimpse the bigger picture, Syriana finally eats into the mind. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: The presence of George Clooney, Matt Damon and other fine actors helps you ignore your sense of descending ignorance as the movie unfolds. And the ending, when you think about it for a few days, does add up. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: One can say of Mr. Gaghan, Mr. Soderbergh and Mr. Clooney that their heads may be in the right place in Syriana, but their hearts are not much in evidence as far as any emotional investment in their characters is concerned. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Syriana is complex, engrossing, involving and depressing. Difficult to absorb, it is also difficult to accept, and it is one of the best films of 2005. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It's a wake-up call. In today's environment, it's a rare thing to find a movie with interesting characters in dense, intelligent storylines, but that's what Syriana offers. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Syriana is an endlessly fascinating movie about oil and money, America and China, traders and spies, the Gulf States and Texas, reform and revenge, bribery and betrayal. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: It's entirely possible that Gaghan just isn't an actor's director. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: It's hard to get passionately swept away by a movie when you're struggling continually to figure out who's doing what to whom and why. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Syriana is a caustic and cynical political thriller with a plot that occasionally confuses but a message that leaves no room for misinterpretation. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Syriana isn't the perfect guide, but its torch probes the darkness further than most and shines brightly enough that blindness can no longer can be our excuse. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: It leaves us gasping for air, scratching our heads and wondering if we've seen something truly important or something that just thinks it is. But at least it leaves us thinking. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: [A]n engrossing, insider's tour of the world's hottest spots, grandest schemes and most dangerous men. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Thought-provoking and unnerving, emotionally engaging and intellectually stimulating. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: The richness of detail is immense. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: The movie may be too knowing for its own good, but it's not glib and it never goes cheesy. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: What's so powerful about the film is the rich stories it tells and how it leads them like so many human tributaries to one black, bubbling source. Read more