SYRIANA
Love it or hate it? I couldn't tell. But I think this movie has struck a nerve across a lot of constituencies tied to oil and the Middle East.
It certainly resonates with anyone who spends $3 a gallon to fill a gas tank and anyone who now understands that the war in Iraq has always been about one thing: oil.
From the pen and direction of Stephen Gaghan, "Syriana" dissects a global world struggle for control of the flow of oil that suggests there is no extreme to which the world's brokers won't go to keep the pipes flowing.
Stylistically, "Syriana" is reminiscent of "Traffic," a collection of distinct stories that are deftly interwoven and that turn on each intersection.
There is the career CIA operative Bob Barnes (George Clooney in an Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning performance). He is a career field man who has become an anachronism to the technocrats in Washington. He's assigned to take out a young oil prince who is getting some unorthodox ideas about ruling his country.
The prince, Nasir (Alexander Siddig), is in a complicated struggle with his completely compromised brother for their father's throne. Nasir realizes that oil won't last forever and that his nation needs to take steps to ensure a future once the wells run dry.
Advising the prince is a young and idealistic oil analyst, Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon), who really believes he can help the prince make a difference for his people.
At the other end of the spectrum is an immigrant Pakistani oil field laborer Wasim Kahn (Mazhar Munir) who falls prey to a charismatic religious leader who deftly turns him into a terrorist-in-training.
On the other side of the globe, a massive and complicated dance between oil barons, politicians, bureaucrats, power brokers and lawyers precedes the merger of two titans of the oil industry, Connex and Kileen. Chris Cooper plays Jimmy Pope, an old-style wildcatter who knows how to fight to get the merger done. Jeffrey Wright is lawyer Bennett Holiday, a man whose due diligence can wreck or advance the merger. Christopher Plummer is Dean Whiting, the power broker whose law firm is overseeing the merger.
"Syriana" can be bewildering at first, until the patterns emerge and the stories gain weight, but the payoff is more than worth it. Chances are, though, if you're paying $3 a gallon for gas and not even wondering why, then this movie will be lost to you. You can't walk into it oblivious to world events.
As a poster named "oregonwalker2" recently noted on an Internet Movie Data Base (imdb.com) discussion group: "'Syriana' is a post-college-level film made for worldly adults. You will only get out of it what you bring to it."
You might start with your daily newspaper and a copy of ex-CIA operative Robert Baer's memoir, "See No Evil," on which the film is loosely based.
ALSO THIS WEEK
"Mrs. Henderson Presents" (Weinstein Company/Genius Products, 3 stars) When her husband dies, Laura Henderson (Judi Dench) doesn't take widowhood well. She's restless. Rambling around the old estate, taking tea and knitting with the other old dowagers just doesn't cut it.
When by chance the old dame spots a dilapidated old London West End theater (metaphors apply), it is love at first sight. She buys the old dame and has her refurbished before even knowing what she'll put on the stage.
That's where the imperious and cantankerous impresario Vivian Van Damm (Bob Hoskins) comes in.
It is a catfight from the very beginning. Van Damm insists on creative control and Mrs. Henderson insists on being relevant in the world - her world, which is now the theater.
And, boy, do they chew scenery (both the characters and the actors who portray them).
When an assistant tries to redirect Van Damm to a small crisis, Mrs. Henderson snaps, "My dear, never interrupt me in the middle of a perfectly good argument. Now I've lost my train of thought."
It is Henderson who suggests posing nudes on the stage when sales begin to flag for their musical revue. And with the advent of World War II and the influx of young soldiers, the theater's "artistic gamble" becomes a gold mine.
Director Stephen Frears provides a commentary track on the DVD. There is also a making-of featurette.
"Breakfast on Pluto" (Sony, 3 stars) A young Irish foster child, Patrick Braden (Cillian Murphy) grows up to become the woman he always knew was inside. By turns funny, sweet and tragic, "Breakfast on Pluto" follows "Kitten" Braden from his rural Irish hometown in 1973 to the wild streets of London, where he searches for his own identity as well as his birth mother.
Directed by Neil Jordan, "Breakfast on Pluto" includes fine acting turns from Liam Neeson, Stephen Rea, Brendan Gleeson and Gavin Friday, among others. But it is Murphy's show, and if you think you know the young actor from his roles in "Red Eye" or "28 Days Later" or even "Batman Begins," brace yourself for a whole new and rewarding experience.
"Hostel" (Sony, 2 stars) Three rambling Euro adventurers are tipped off to a youth hostel in eastern Europe where the living is cheap, the loving is easy and the place, well, it is to die for. Hard-core horror for the twisted-inclined.
Also this week: "Cuban Blood," with Harvey Keitel and Gael Garcia Bernal about love in the time of revolution. "Attack of the Cyborgs," a futuristic Korean tale of robot revolution. "Klepto," a petty thief and a security guard pursue a serious heist.
FROM THE VAULTS
"The Robert Altman Collection" (Fox) The studio packages four of the director's films of the 1970s, the classic "M-A-S-H" and three minors - "A Perfect Couple," "The Wedding" and "Quintet." Perhaps it is an attempt to capitalize on the recent lifetime achievement Oscar bestowed on Altman.
"William Shakespeare Compilation Box Set" (Fox) This is how I have them clustered on my video shelves, too: Julie Taymor's stylish "Titus," the all-star "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and Baz Luhrman's hip "Romeo (plus) Juliet."
"Event Horizon" (Paramount) The 1997 sci-fi horror film returns, much like the spaceship in the film - without warning or reason - but loaded with surprises and extras.
IT CAME FROM TV
Straight from the tube to your living room this week are "Remington Steele" Season 3; BBC travelogue "Michael Palin: Sahara"; BBC drama unedited "The Buccaneers"; season one of "The Sentinel"; and a timely PBS documentary about immigration, "Destination America."
© Copley News Service
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