Syriana...Am I stupid

[talloulou]

I watched Syriana last night and I just got to ask am I retarded or is that movie really hard to follow?????

Can anyone please explain to me George Cloooney's character....at the end when he stops the caravan with the white flag...what's his motive? Is he trying to stop the prince from being executed or is he trying to stop the car to make execution easier? He stops the caravan and then just stares into the car and doesn't say or do anything? I just really didn't understand what was up or going on with that character.

Also when Matt Damon switches cars it's just coincidence right? Or did he know what was about to happen?

And when the US takes out that prince's car....is that an example of collateral damage for any of you military folks out there? Cause I just can't believe the US would do that in a case like that? Does our military kill those who are an "economic threat"??

Am I naive?

I found alot of the movie to be somewhat confusing though I did get the basic "agenda" that Americans are corrupt and apparently we should be sympathetic towards terrorists. But it really annoys me that I haven't a clue what was up with Clooney's character? Is it supposed to be confusing?

Also I completely get that Charlize Theron had to go fugly for Monster but what's Clooney's excuse for this movie? Even on the movie jacket it discusses how Clooney had to gain 30+ pounds for the role but to serve what purpose? Is he supposed to be representing some person in real life? I don't see how his going all fugly served any purpose.

Oh and are there really Saudi princes who care about democracy and treating women well and all that and we the US keep them from gaining power? Is there any truth to that? And since the prince didn't become "Amir" anyway what was the point in offing him?

 

[liberal1]

At last someone I can sympathize with! Throughout the whole movie they make a big deal of Clooney's superior language skills, and then he stands there, with his white t-shirt, and does nothing! Pretty sure though that he was trying to stop the assanation, and that Damon was just an unknowing and fortunate pawn in the whole affair. Once again, Hollywood is glorifying a movie that doesn't tie together quick enough by calling it artistic.

 

[Doremus Jessup]

I thought George Clooney stopped the caravan in an attempt to prevent the Prince's death, it was just bad timing.

The Prince and the generals were on their way to roll on his brother, the agency knew what was going down, or had an idea that it would. They took him out as he was a threat to his brother's pro-West regime and future oil contracts.

The Prince who was killed was Western educated which, storyline wise, would account for why he was pro-democracy.

I don't see the film as glorifying terrorists, the brother who was killed wasn't a terrorist, he just wanted what was best for his people, which was deemed "anti-American." I thought the part about the kid who went to the madrasa and ended up with the missile was not directly connected to either Matt Damon's character or George Clooney's. Other than that he was the one that ended up with the missile. I didn't see that part of the story as trying to get the viewer to sympathize with him, it was attempting to show his life and how it developed.

 

[talloulou]

Thanks everyone....I was pretty sure Clooney was trying to warn the prince but since he just stood there with a blank look on his face...I wasn't sure. Seems like after going through all that trouble Clooney could have spit out an actual verbal warning. Seemed like there was time enough that they could have at least tried to get out of the car and run or something.

As for "glorifying terrorists" I wouldn't say the movie went that far. But I do feel there was a direct attempt to have the viewer sympathize with the kid who ended up becoming a terrorist. And that charachter wasn't developed well at all. It seems like alot of steps were skipped between kid with a good heart.....kid with a missle about to blow crap up. The kid was one of the only people in the film I actually cared about so it seemed too easy in my opinion for the director to flip the switch and make him a terrorist. I kind of rolled my eyes at that point and felt like the director was shoving some sort of "terrorists are good simple people who have been wronged badly" agenda down my throat.