Fridae

To fully understand Stephen Gaghan's ambitious political
thriller Syriana, you will need a really good map. Not
a geographical one, but the sort that shows you who each character
is and how he is related to other characters. Syriana is
probably more complicated than any film you will see this year.

The film tries to expose the shady dealings that go on in the White
House, the CIA, rich Middle-East oil countries and rich American
corporations. With so many characters and background information,
you will be sorting out one thing from another long after the lights
come up.

Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actor (and tipped to win),
George Clooney plays a CIA veteran who is arranging the assassination
of an Arab prince, whose oil-producing country has just granted
gas-drilling rights to China instead of America. And that's just
ONE of the many subplots of Syriana. The film is written
and directed by Stephen Gaghan (Traffic), who has been
nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

If you sit up and pay close attention, the film will reward you
in spades.