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Syriana
2006
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Certified-fresh
$ 93 Million
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Syriana
Positive Reviews
94
Negative reviews
24
Average Rating
3.5
/5
fascinating
intelligent
powerful
ambitious
synthetic
All
Positive
Negative
4.5
But theres little debating that Gaghans smart, universally well acted film generates a queasy kind of excitement as it moves from pipelines to boardro ..
Av Club
3.0
Like the title itself think tank talk for a hypothetical reshaping of the Middle East this is a working paper of ideas driven by hypothesis, rather th ..
EW
5.0
Didnt want to.I liked the way I experienced the film: I couldnt explain the story, but I never felt lost in it.
Rogerebert
5.0
Barbara Lipska, a neuroscientist who was diagnosed with melanoma tumors in her brain.
3.0
But while Traffic managed to mix affecting drama with its big picturegeopolitics, Gaghans provocative new study worksbetter as a stimulant for politic ..
Screen Daily
3.5
Its subject matter has an urgent topicality and its storytelling technique demands that attention be paid.
3.0
Probes a significant subject but treats its people as mere stick figures carrying exposition from place to place.
E Film Critic
4.0
While Syriana takes much of its inspiration from current headlines, its greatest strength is not in how it reminds viewers of what they can see on a c ..
E Film Critic
4.0
Stephen Gaghan pulls it off by presenting an interesting menagerie of characters, a myriad of locations and a screenplay that overestimates rather tha ..
E Film Critic
2.5
Damon again getting Gerryed out in the middle of nowhere encapsulates Gaghans wandering around an issue that should leave us with something more subst ..
E Film Critic
5.0
This film treats its audience not merely as adults but as experts.
Telegraph
2.5
The misunderstanding among countries and cultures is one of many themes Gaghan touches on without shedding much light.
San Francisco Chronicle
4.0
However, the problem with this kind of narrative tapestry is that the audience is offered heaps of thread and asked to take on faith the grand design.
2.5
It all looked and felt good and authentic, but it ultimately left me feeling empty and angry inside.Not angry at the films message, but angry at its m ..
JoBlo
3.8
Syriana isnt the perfect guide, but its torch probes the darkness further than most and shines brightly enough that blindness can no longer can be our ..
The Globe And Mail
5.0
One of the best films of the year reveals the violence, the corruption, and the political chicanery involved in maintaining our addiction to fossil fu ..
Spirituality And Practice
3.0
Admirably serious but untidy, excessively schematic and more than slightly self important...its higher ambition is enough to make it mildly recommenda ..
One Guys Opinion
2.0
But, at least, this film makes a serious effort to give us an idea of whats going down and lays on us its own moral compass; its only too bad the char ..
Sover
4.4
Others will blast it as liberal propaganda dreamed up by conspiracy theorists.
ReelViews
3.1
It has a pessimism and an intelligence rare in American movies that makes you want to root for it.
Combust Ible Celluloid
2.0
Gaghans ambitious film is so complex the viewer may never quite catch every little subplot, inference or character motivation, but it is a richly rewa ..
3.0
It falls short of its high goals, but achieves much more than less ambitious films.
Lariat
3.0
You go out for popcorn and youre doomed.This movie shouldnt come with a rating, it should come with a syllabus.
Eric Ds Nider
2.0
Writer director Stephen Gaghans geopolitical drama makes not one iota of sense, geopolitically or dramatically.
News Review
4.5
But seeing it on the screen like this, in such an off handed, almost documentary style is quite unsettling.
Shadows On The Wall
4.5
Frustrated, the sons adapt to the cruel, fanatical, and radically individual politics of their moment.
Pop Matters
4.0
It also fulfils all the key criteria of a decent political thriller itll make you angry, itll make you think and itll scare the hell out of you.
View London
2.0
But the confusions in this movie should not be mistaken for the passionate chaos of creativity.Bad exposition is more like it.
Cs Monitor
3.0
But despite an impeccable cast and an articulate script that brandishes its issues, the film has the feel of a lecture that is dutiful and shrill at t ..
Film Journal International ..
3.1
Clooney, who put on weight and a beard for the part, is the standout here.
Deseret News (Salt Lake Ci ..
1.3
Im still waiting to see the film that was advertised in its great trailer. As actually released, the movie is completely dead. ... One of the worst fi ..
Internet Reviews
3.8
The movie might have worked even better had it been a miniseries that could have more deeply developed the folks caught in the storys gears.
Boston
5.0
Clooney and Soderbergh love the great political films of the late 1960s and 70s, movies that were popular but serious, entertaining but politically en ..
Smh
5.0
This layering of stories is what makes Syriana a brilliant and challenging film.
Mountain X
4.5
Syriana Weaves Stories of Oil and Power toggle caption Warner Bros. The new film Syriana is an interwoven tale of terrorism and covert business intere ..
Npr
3.8
FreedomWorks is expanding from a 15 bed building it recently sold in north Minneapolis to a remodeled nursing home campus that could one day serve as ..
Star Tribune
4.5
The film is thrilling in the standard sense we use to describe movies, in the visceral way of forcing you to the edge of your seat more than once.
3.1
It leaves us gasping for air, scratching our heads and wondering if weve seen something truly important or something that just thinks it is. But at le ..
Toronto Star
3.0
It demands our attention; its not the kind of movie that you sit back and enjoy.
Emanuellevy
1.5
Although billed as a political thriller, Syriana lacks the thrills and suspense promised in its impressive previews.
Reel Talk Reviews
5.0
Whatever your politics, its a glib and less than original movie punch line.
Reel Talk Reviews
4.0
Secrecy is the watchword and truth about as welcome as a mistress at a funeral.
Eye For Film
4.5
The ending, cinematically climactic of course, is nevertheless the films weak point for me; it punches home Gaghans editorial point most successfully, ..
1.5
CO2, however, is a harmless natural substance, so CO2 extraction doesnt result in residual solvent contamination.
Observer
2.0
Not that it reads like fantasy.If anything it feels like a documentary.
Movies
4.0
A bleak and powerful movie, made all the more sobering by how much of it isnt fiction.
Flim Threet
4.0
The bad news is that its harder to keep up with, filled with ambiguous characters and talky exchanges thatll leave even the most alert audiences scrat ..
Bbc
5.0
Successful movie are, its said, the ones whose story and appeal can be expressed in a single sentence.
Time
3.1
It is a testament to Gaghans sharp filmmaking prowess that he has made an occasionally incomprehensible work that still manages to be captivating and ..
The Movie Boy
2.0
DVD Review: Following in the Warner Bros. tradition to release sloppy DVD releases, Syriana isnt exactly special feature friendly.
Bullz-Eye
4.5
Movies offer us wildly divergent stories with vivid, close up emotions, and so did the six fimmakers we invited to take part in the Envelope Directors ..
Calendar Live
3.0
Unfortunately Gaghans stirring documentary/handheld cam filmmaking is contradicted by the overall convoluted feel of the movie which comes to a too ne ..
Hollywood
2.0
It fails on a basic storytelling level, never quite fully establishing its characters and forcing us to sit through scene after scene not knowing what ..
Seattle Pi
2.5
If so, and if it has any correlation to this film, its an anti American diatribe.This film defines convoluted.
Tony Medley
3.8
Syriana is so powerful, so audacious in its commentary the fact some of it doesnt snap together or that a few of the layers are left hanging doesnt en ..
Movie Freak
4.3
Once youve figured out what is going on, youre likely to be kept on the edge of your seat, much like you might while watching a Jack Ryan or Jason Bou ..
2.5
Look, the real wonder of WW84 is that this maybe isnt the worst thing about it.
Film Freak Central
3.5
The result is both winning and problematic, though the positives sufficiently outweigh the negatives to make the result well worthwhile.
Boxoffice Magazine
2.0
Theres definitely some black gold here, but this film didnt quite refine it.
E Online
4.0
It may be a liberal indulgence that offers us more sympathetic Arab power brokers than it does good American ones.
La Weekly
4.0
This film will speak volumes to those who are ready to brave its demands.
Varia Gate
1.3
And call me old fashioned but I also prefer my movies to have a protagonist that I can root for.
Three Movie Buffs
3.8
While I love good mindless fun at the movies its also refreshing to have the brain fully engaged.Syriana will engage your brain.
Ross Anthony
5.0
That is what is so brilliant and so maddening about Stephen Gaghans film.
Killer Movie Reviews
3.8
Alexander Siddig, famously of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine does some heretofore unseen solid work as the man who would be Emir.
Big Picture Big Sound
3.8
Syriana needs more intensity and could have cut out a few characters who seem to have no purpose, but its a fine film sure to spur conversations, even ..
Waffle Movies
3.8
If you want stylish filmmaking, emotion and thrills, you might want to wait for something else.
Montreal Film Journal
5.0
Sometimes you wish Gaghan would simply slow down and let us linger awhile with his characters.
News Week
3.5
You will be able to save yourself from getting disappointed of watching nothing but a lame movie.
Window To The Movies
3.1
Syriana is an ambitious edifice, built with conviction and skill. But Im not sure I understand it, and Im not sure I care.
Chron
5.0
At first baffling, never wholly lucid but always compelling our total attention, the film introduces us to a wide range of people while feeding us pie ..
Film Guardian
2.0
It is not a conventional paranoid thriller, because there is nothing to be paranoid about.
Film Guardian
3.8
...about as timely and captivating as modern issue related cinema is likely to ever get.
Scene Stealers
1.5
The performances have an unforced swagger that defies the limited parameters of the characters themselves (nobody gets a lot of screen time, not even ..
Or Lando Weekly
3.0
A complex thriller that challenges its audience with a fascinating story woven among several plot threads.
Bowling Green Daily News
3.0
Mr. Gaghan doesnt insult our intelligence, but he demands our attention. If youre up to those demands, youll be rewarded.
Guide Live
4.5
This is intelligent, committed, and politically provocative, though its narrative puzzle box may prompt you to throw up your hands and let ExxonMobil ..
Chicago Reader
4.5
A gripping thriller, a labyrinth of parallel plots, a moral message movie and a brutally realistic action picture.
Jam! Movies
2.0
It simply shines a light in the right place, illuminating its corners and defying us to look away.
Flip Side Archive
2.0
A story done right about oil greed has the potential to be an authoritative must see, but Syriana is not that film.
From The Balcony
4.5
A film that treats its audience as adults, this is an extremely rewarding work that handsomely pays off the concentration required to watch it.
Film4
4.0
If there is any lesson the makers of Syriana want us to absorb, it is that we should trust no one where power and money are concerned.
Movie Metropolis
4.4
Syriana is a fascinating movie and a substantive and thought provoking one but it does not necessarily attain greatness.
Denver Post
5.0
Corruption keeps us safe and warm, snarls one suited operative, and this film is committed to finding just how deep the rot reaches.
New States Man
4.5
Thankfully the film doesnt feel like a lecture due to some terrific performances both from the familiar (Clooney, Cooper, Star Trek: Deep Space Nines ..
Future Movies
3.1
The film throws so much information at you so quickly and so relentlessly that its easy to become overwhelmed and confused.
Aisle Seat
2.5
All you need to know is everyone is a bad guy in one way or another, they all want money and/or power, and theyll do anything to get it.
TheMovieChicks.com
3.0
The cinematic equivalent of a political science graduate students dissertation dry, intricate and emotionally unengaging Syriana piles on so many fact ..
Nicks Chager
5.0
And the Pakistani teen will have to decide if self sacrifice is really the only way to get the worlds attention.Gaghans script brilliantly plays with ..
Orlando Sentinel
4.5
The standout of this already brilliant bunch of actors is Alexander Siddig, who before this starred in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
IGN Movies
2.0
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.
Detroit News
3.0
Too many characters. This story, like Lord of the Rings, is better told as a 6 hour package divided into three films.
Compuserve
4.4
The result is a film that rewards multiple viewings and thoughtful mulling.
Seattle Times
1.5
When a synthetic popcorn churner like Aeon Flux has more life than would be inquiries like Syriana, devotees of the cinema might as well pack up and m ..
Cine Passion
2.0
The thematic temperature of Syriana runs hot and doesnt waste a single second of film time.
Film Critic 1963 Typepad
3.0
It has all the pedigree of classic political picture, yet all the dramatic urgency of a C SPAN afternoon.
Film Jerk
3.0
Im hard pushed to think of a more cynical and self critical American picture, and one that so radically and empathetically portrays the genesis of Isl ..
Patrick Nabarro
2.0
Even something like Paul Greengrass The Bourne Supremacy, dashingly souped up for escapist consumption, still detailed its skull and bones conspiracie ..
Nicks Flick Picks
3.5
There are few movies released by major studios these days possessed with as much intelligence and purpose as Gaghans.
Film Force Ign
3.8
The stories are all densely packed with detail and convincingly told.
Premiere Magazine
1.3
Convoluted, disjointed and extremely dull...amounts to a bunch of ciphers having esoteric conversations about who knows what.
Fantastic A Daily
3.0
Syriana demands patience to see how the pieces come together in a fascinating mosaic of politics, capitalism, and corruption.
Reel Times: Reflections on ..
3.5
You didnt understand all of it It went by too fast to take it all in There was too much information to mentally digest Yeah, well, that was kind of th ..
Brandon Fibbs
2.5
I suppose if I created a flow chart of characters and devoted a few solid hours to it, I could make some sense of ... Syriana.
Suburban Chicago News
2.5
Theyre all pawns of the oil industry or rather, theyre pawns of director Stephen Gaghan, who spun the same yarn about drugs in Steven Soderberghs Traf ..
Boston Phoenix
5.0
This is a great film from top to bottom and I cant recommend it more for the thoughtful movie fan. Its a great ensemble piece and a profound reflectio ..
Supercala.com
3.8
Its intelligent agitprop, a stimulating fireball that deserves to be the center of water cooler conversation.
4.1
Takes the risk of losing its audience by interweaving four different storylines.
Apollo Guide
3.8
Syriana is that rarest of animals the star laden studio release thats all steak, no sizzle.
Zap2it.com
3.8
Maybe they should give editor Tim Squyres something if not an Oscar, then antacid tablets.
Arizona Daily Star
4.5
complex, occasionally riveting film that may fulfill Gaghans purpose ... but will leave many viewers wondering what just happened.
San Diego Metropolitan
3.0
Unlike The Constant Gardener, which turned on the nexus of A Good Womans Love, Syriana is eventually a movie about moral compromise.
Deep Focus
4.4
Syriana is a dense, layered film that is essentially this seasons broccoli %u2013 its good for you, and when prepared right (as Gaghan has), tasty.
Chud
3.5
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Nyc Film Critic
3.1
However its Clooneys performance that will stick with you... One wishes his story was the focus of the film instead of one thread among many.
4.5
Impartial and undeterred, it presents its subject material and characters without judgment.
The Reel Deal
1.0
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3 Black Chicks
3.0
In the end it doesnt move you to action, and for activist cinema, that lack of energizing fervor is a bit of a problem, the longest yard between somet ..
Now Playing Mag
3.0
Cloaking Oliver Stone like message mongering with Tarantino film techniques, Gaghan preaches well known leftist political tomes
Old School Reviews
3.5
This is propaganda. Theres no doubt about that. Its also very well done, theres no doubt about that either.
2.5
A political thriller should have a little mystery to it, but Syriana, while certainly noble in its ambition, is too indecipherable to add up to a grea ..
Time Of India
5.0
Syriana is a challenging, thought provoking work about the downward spiral of oil dependence throughout the world. Its just the thing to make you cons ..
Democratand Chronicle
2.5
Instead, the movie is full of scenes illustrating generalized perceptions and points.
Mark Reviews Movies Tripod ..
4.4
It has a lot on its mind, and is not afraid to speak. So much so, in fact, that it should serve as a good crash course in international energy affairs ..
3.0
I did not understand a good deal of this film, and as a result, I found it nearly impossible to get engaged with the elements I did understand and I w ..
Cinerina
2.5
The plots are not so much carefully interwoven as they are frantically blended, like a dubious cocktail whose true ingredients the bartender would lik ..
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) ..
5.0
It is to be commended for its high seriousness, even though like Clooneys very fine Good Night, and Good Luck its a little self important (Traffik avo ..
Cine Scene
1.5
Gaghan piles one storyline on another but is only interested in suggesting where they trend, working like a (cynical) editorialist who has made up a f ..
Blogcritics.org
2.5
Politically paranoid, if well intentioned, this disjointed message movie doesnt really do much more than indict the usual suspects.
1.5
Syriana Posted to www.marxmail.org on November 23, 2005 If they handed out awards to movies for political awareness and seriousness of purpose, then s ..
Columbia Edu
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Syriana