From writer/director Stephen Gaghan, winner of the Best Screenplay Academy
Award for Traffic, comes Syriana, a political thriller that unfolds against
the intrigues and corruption of the global oil industry. From the players
brokering back-room deals in Washington to the men toiling in the oil
fields of the Persian Gulf, the film's multiple storylines weave together
to illuminate the human consequences of the fierce pursuit of wealth
and power.
The intrigue takes place against the backdrop of an oil-producing Gulf
country, where young, charismatic and reform-minded Prince Nasir (ALEXANDER
SIDDIG) is seeking to change long-established relationships with U.S.
business interests. Nasir, the apparent heir to the throne, has just
granted natural gas drilling rights - long held by Connex, a Texas energy
giant - to a higher Chinese bid. This is a huge blow to Connex and American
business interests in the region. Killen, a smaller Texas oil company
owned by Jimmy Pope (CHRIS COOPER), has just won the very competitive
drilling rights to coveted fields in Kazakhstan. This makes Killen very
attractive to Connex, who now needs new territory to maintain its production
capacity. When the two companies merge, the pending deal attracts the
scrutiny of the Justice Dept., and Sloan Whiting, a powerful white-shoe
Washington law firm, is brought in to perform due diligence.
Bob Barnes (GEORGE CLOONEY) is a veteran CIA agent nearing the end of
a long and respectable career, with a son headed for college (MAX MINGHELLA)
and the possibility of spending the latter days of his service in a cushy
desk job. A devoted company man, Bob's always been a true believer that
his work benefits his government and makes his country a safer place.
In Bob's last assignment, an assassination of two arms dealers in Tehran,
a Stinger missile falls into the hands of a mysterious blue-eyed Egyptian.
On his return to Washington, Bob is promised a promotion after one last
undercover mission - assassinating Prince Nasir. But when one of his
field contacts turns on him and the assassination attempt goes terribly
awry, Bob is scapegoated by the CIA, betrayed by the organization to
which he has devoted his life. As he searches to understand what has
happened, he begins to realize that he has been lied to - used as a pawn
and never privy to the real motivation for the assignments he has blindly
carried out for years.
Bennett Holiday (JEFFREY WRIGHT) is an ambitious Washington attorney
at Sloan Whiting, in charge of the delicate task of guiding the Connex-Killen
merger through the deep waters of D.C. He needs to give the Justice Department
enough material to make their case against Killen for its shady dealings
in Kazakhstan without jeopardizing the entire deal. It's in the company
and the country's interest that the merger go through. It also serves
Bennett's ambitions - ambitions fueled by a father (WILLIAM C. MITCHELL)
he is constantly at odds with.
Energy analyst Bryan Woodman (MATT DAMON) is a rising star at an Energy
Trading Company, living with his wife Julie (AMANDA PEET) and their two
young sons in Geneva. When he attends a party thrown by Prince Nasir's
family, a tragic accident results in the death of Bryan's young son.
Nasir attempts to make amends for what happened, offering Bryan a business
opportunity to help the young leader realize his reformist ideas - an
opportunity Bryan embraces, to the dismay of his grieving wife.
Dean Whiting (CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER), Bennett's boss, the head of Sloan
Whiting and one of the most powerful men in Washington, is trying to
undo Nasir's deal with the Chinese. He knows that Nasir's younger, more
callow brother, Prince Meshal (AKBAR KURTHA), will be more amenable to
American business interests and he pressures the aging Emir to choose
his younger son to succeed him, effectively engineering Nasir's political
demise. At the other end of the wage scale in Nasir's country are the
migrant laborers toiling in its energy fields, whose lives are directly
and drastically affected by the royal family's policies and the vagaries
of the industry. Connex workers Saleem Ahmed Kahn (SHAHID AHMED) and
his son Wasim (MAZHAR MUNIR) have just been laid off from their jobs
in the fields when the Chinese take them over, and their future becomes
increasingly uncertain as they search in vain for work before their visas
run out. Saleem dreams of someday returning to Pakistan; his son hopes
for a better life but quickly becomes disillusioned and angry at the
way he and his father are treated as immigrant workers in the Gulf. Wasim
and his friend Farooq (SONNELL DADRAL) find solace at the local madrassa,
a place where they are treated with dignity in an otherwise bleak and
unfamiliar world. At the madrassa, Wasim and Farooq are taken under the
wing of a charismatic and dangerous recruiter - the blue-eyed Egyptian
with the missing Stinger missile.
Sheiks and field workers, government inspectors and international spies,
rich and poor, the famous and infamous - each plays their small part
in the vast and complex system that powers the industry, none realizing
the true extent of the explosive impact their lives will have upon the
world.
Syriana Main Cast
List
Actor
Name:
Character
Name:
George Clooney
Matt Damon
Christopher Plummer
Jeffrey Wright
Chris Cooper
Robert Foxworth
Amanda Peet
Jamey Sheridan
Alexander Siddig
... Bob Barnes
... Bryan Woodman
... Dean Whiting
... Bennett Holiday
... Jimmy Pope
... Tommy Barton
... Julie Pope
... Terry
... Prince Nasir Al-Subaai
Syriana DVD Extras:
- "Make a Change, Make a Difference" Featurette
- "A Conversation with George Clooney" featurette
- Deleted Scenes
- Theatrical Trailer Buy the Syriana DVD Now!
