.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

At the end of Syriana, when the credits began to roll and the lights slowly relit the capacity seated theatre, I sat in my seat for what must have been an eternity just trying to process and interpret what I just saw.

Now that is not a bad thing mind you. In fact, five or six hours now removed from the experience, I think it was actually a wonderful frame of mind to be in after just this type of film.

What exactly is this type? Well, you have the writer of Traffic who goes behind the camera with a $50 million promisary note from the studio and stars with the last names of Clooney, Damon, Cooper and Plummer being attracted to your screenplay like mosquitoes to a blue light. All signs therefore have this film pointing towards mainstream blockbuster potential. You know, asteroid hitting the earth with dialogue that even your 5-year old nephew would laugh at, but done with pretty people in even prettier locations.

But not Syriana. Instead, director Stephen Gaghan (who also wrote the very good Havoc now on DVD), puts up on the big screen maybe one of the most complex and interesting stories that the multiplexes have seen in some time. Nothing therefore is typical about Syriana.

To tell you the story would reveal that I have figured it out (I am getting closer..) and that would be a misrepresentation. Here's what I can tell you. Through multiple locations and various storylines, we follow the lives of three central characters. First, there is Bob Barnes (George Clooney). Bob is a government operative who finds himself in places like Beirut and Iran trying to bring American justice to the Middle East. His methods and motives are right out of modern day spy novels complete with denial, deception and torture. When an arms deal goes bad that Bob was arranging, Bob is extracted back to the United States to a desk job in Washington in hopes that the story eventually buries itself.

Simultaneously, we have the story of Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon in maybe his strongest performance to date) an economic wondermind that finds himself working for an eventual heir to the Emir throne after his son is accidentally electrocuted in the palace pool. Living with the demons of knowing he is working for those that were indirectly responsible for his son's death, Bryan neglects his remaining family to provide financial advice to the Prince in his attempt to bring stabilization to the regions economy.

And while all this is going on abroad, back in the good ole USA, Bennett Holliday (Jeffrey Wright) is the hired hand in a firm investigating the backend dealings of a major oil conglomerate merger. With ties to both resources in both America and the Middle East, this third storyline connects the other two - not directly, but by highlighting the notion that oil is the primary reason why the West has any interest in the financial or economic well being of the region. Holliday's relentless search for fall guys uncovers a world that that only the most in-depth 60 Minutes investigation could uncover. One with corruption leading to some of the biggest heads of corporate industry and where greed is so accepted that Gordon Gekko might even turn his head in disgust.

The result of these stories which somehow intersect is as complex and as gripping a screenplay that Hollywood has likely seen greenlit in some time. The result therefore is mixed. You will unlikely be able to refute that the acting is top rate. Clooney and Damon in particular give maybe the best performances of their careers and their supporting cast is no less stellar.

But like reading a Tom Clancy novel, this adaptation of a Robert Baer book (See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism) jumps from country to country and storyline to storyline with head turning swiftness where the only way to understand what is probably one of the best movies of the year is to get out of your seat at the end of the film, go back to the box office and buy another ticket to see it all again.