Syriana

Stephen Gaghan's fascinatingly complex political thriller takes us through the labyrinthine world of oil politics in the Middle East. The focus is corruption -- not of any one person or political party, but of everyone. In this sense, the film is a success -- its complexities and the mystery of discovering how everyone and everything relates is compelling. The ensemble cast also helps to provide recognizable faces to the numerous characters that come and go. The problem is that we never get to stay with any of the character long enough to really get to know them or discover any of their true motivations. The performances, however, are good enough to almost make you forget that the characters are fairly shallow, and the story is compelling enough to almost make you forget that you never really learn anything.