I was disappointed with Syriana . It’s not that it’s a bad movie but I did fell for the Soderbergh-Clooney duo – I thought one’s directing, the other one’s playing. I got it wrong.

The movie’s written and directed by Stephen Gaghan (Screenwriter – Traffic). Soderbergh’s contribution is unknown, although he does get an executive producer credit (which doesn’t mean much).

Clooney’s performance as a CIA vet is notable for being subdued and slow. It’s a good performance but unfortunately he doesn’t get a lot of screen time. Thanks go to Matt Damon. He managed to upstage everyone else helming a storyline that was totally preposterous.

Even Ebert confessed he didn’t get all the details so let’s start with some clarifications. The plotlines are three: one is Clooney as an aging CIA operative who is given a mission and then thrown to the wolves; another is Matt Damon as an energy consultant to Prince Nasir Al-Subaai (Alexander Siddig), a next-in-line Emir of some (unnamed) oil country who’s taking a progressive stand.

The third plot line is rather thick - the merger of two oil companies who are being scrutinized by both the government and a law firm who does its own kind of “creative” due diligence. Another (minor) plot line is that of two Pakistani boys who become martyrs by blowing up an oil tanker. There, I summed it in 3,000 words or less.

At the onset the movie packs some serious energy: Clooney is involved in some secret ops. Damon loses a kid. The Pakistani kids get fired. In the next 2 hours though, the energy dissipates in the hot sun and Syriana leaves with a cynical albeit meager message.

The message certainly isn’t new and the ending has NO surprise effect. Harold Pinter’s Nobel Prize Lecture has more punch and the man was in a wheelchair. Any recent interview with Chomsky provides more insight.

Again, it’s not that this is a BAD movie. What’s disappointing is to see that it doesn’t reach it’s full potential by staying close to the ground.

Since this is probably Stephen Gaghan’s fault, I’m going back to a pristine quality Solaris torrent, at least it’s a “true” Soderbergh-Clooney movie.