Watching global politics like a soap opera

I headed into "Syriana" with low expectations. I've spent a good part of my life believing in conspiracy theories involving the corporate world's control of global politics and I have a still thriving loathing of the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia. I thought "Syriana" would be a rather simplistic Hollywood take on the evils of corporations. There was some of that, but mainly the movie was engaging and tried to make the world of politics and oil gray instead of black and white.

Writer-director Stephen Gaghan based his movie on the memoirs of an ex-CIA operative. He based his directing on Stephen Soderbergh's "Traffic" (for which Gaghan wrote the screenplay.) The movie opens in Tehran where George Clooney plays a spook making an arms deal that goes awry. The film quickly jumps to Washington, Geneva, Texas and the Persian Gulf following lawyers, oilmen, energy analysts and Pakistani workers in an anonymous Gulf country that is a stand-in for the United States' beloved Saudi empire.

Usually I find movies with that many interconnecting story threads lazy. It's as if the writers couldn't think of one strong storyline, so they create five weak ones believing they'll add up to something strong. Mainly they are wrong (see "Crash" for an example.)

This time it works.

You get a feeling for how government, business and a handful of powerful guys manipulate and fuel our global economy. No one comes off as completely evil. There is a little too much wide-eyed optimism connected to actor Alexander Siddig's Prince, but you need a little dreamy idealism or the film may come off as completely jaded.

The movie never slows down to explain much to the viewer, which is a blessing. I hate it when a film stops dead in its tracks and becomes a college textbook. But that means you've got to comfortable with characters quickly spewing out GATT, Nazarbayev and derivatives without stopping to give you a primer on any of it.

You have to watch it like you watch ER. You may not know what a subdermal hematoma is, but you can still follow the storyline about a guy who got hit by a car. You may get more out of the film if you know your anatomy (or in "Syriana's" case, the dictators of republics of the former Soviet Union,) but you can still enjoy and learn from the film.

If you want to know a little more about the world of Syriana before you go, grab December's Atlantic monthly and read about the Kazakh dictator Nazarbayev. It's a good appetizer for this smart and entertaining film.