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I just saw this movie tonight and I have to say, it's definately one of the best films of the year. The plot is quite complex (although it's not too hard to follow if you just pay attention and if you know a bit about the politics of big oil beforehand) and there's no point trying to explain it all here. Suffice to say, it's a movie that attempts to tie together big oil, the middle east, lawyers, the American government (and CIA), and the roots of Islamic fundamentalism in a neat little package. Unfortuately like real life, these issues aren't so neat, and from the reviews I've read it seems that most people have missed the point of this movie.
I do have some gripes about the movie overall (i.e. I would have hoped the terrorism aspect would be explored deeper), but overall I believe it was a very fair view about the subject matter. I've read some reviews where people think it's one big 'liberal rant', and I would have to disagree. The movie shows things as they are, and shows all the ways and the extremes (from power politics, to the CIA, to big business leveraging it's power) in which America would really go in protecting it's interests. In fact the scariest thing about it, is that not only do the events protrayed in the movie probably happen every day, but for most of us in the developed world, our prosperity is largely based on actions like this.
In the end a lot of people have lambasted the movie for not having a central character or a hero to cheer for as the movie has multiple main storylines which seem to somewhat thread together in the end. Unfortunately, this isn't a topic that really does have any heroes or clear villians, and so the movie reflects this. This movie shows things for what they are, and for that it succeeds in a wonderful way.
****/****
I do have some gripes about the movie overall (i.e. I would have hoped the terrorism aspect would be explored deeper), but overall I believe it was a very fair view about the subject matter. I've read some reviews where people think it's one big 'liberal rant', and I would have to disagree. The movie shows things as they are, and shows all the ways and the extremes (from power politics, to the CIA, to big business leveraging it's power) in which America would really go in protecting it's interests. In fact the scariest thing about it, is that not only do the events protrayed in the movie probably happen every day, but for most of us in the developed world, our prosperity is largely based on actions like this.
In the end a lot of people have lambasted the movie for not having a central character or a hero to cheer for as the movie has multiple main storylines which seem to somewhat thread together in the end. Unfortunately, this isn't a topic that really does have any heroes or clear villians, and so the movie reflects this. This movie shows things for what they are, and for that it succeeds in a wonderful way.
****/****