I just got back from seeing Syriana, and I'm wondering whether I should wait a couple of days before trying to record my thoughts. At a coffee shop conversation immediately afterwards, I was probably too hard on the movie. It's the sort of film that ought to provide viewers with an optional flow chart to keep track of characters and relationships, and most of the discussions I overheard outside the theater were of the "What was that guy doing in Beirut?" variety. It's unclear whether this confusion is because of justifiable complexity or lapses in narrative technique. Moreover, the motivations of several important characters remain mysterious, even after the movie is over. Is this an attempt at realistic understatement, or the result of trying to condense a potential miniseries into a two-hour running time? Probably both.

There are also more fundamental problems. Most of what happens in the third act, with George Clooney driving frantically across the desert to prevent an assassination, is completely implausible. A subplot about a couple of suicide bombers starts promisingly, but ends up feeling like a failure of imagination. And finally, it just isn't clear that a thriller—or a movie, for that matter—is the best vehicle for what the director is trying to accomplish. It can't name real names or drill very deep, and it's occasionally reduced to using Matt Damon as a mouthpiece for editorial comment. (I kept wanting a character to turn to him and say, "Who are you, the narrator?") Probably the worst thing you can say about Syriana is that it uses its veneer of authenticity and relevance to get away with narrative compromises that wouldn't pass muster in The Bourne Supremacy.

On the other hand, this is mostly a very interesting, ambitious, well-crafted movie that works as a thriller almost in spite of itself. It has a nice feel for location and behavior, and is occasionally very suspenseful on an intellectual and visceral level, if rarely on an emotional one. The last act is full of problems, but it comes together nicely in a way that, say, Traffic did not. In general, it's masterfully edited and assembled. While you're watching it, you're entertained and engaged, and it's only afterwards that you start to question what you've seen. I have a hunch that Syriana is a film that I'll like more and more as time goes on, unlike most movies, which I tend to like less and less. It represents the work of a lot of people operating near the peak of their ability to bring off an almost impossible project, and for that reason alone, it's worth seeing.

After the movie was over, my friend and I found ourselves walking down a street in SoHo, commenting loudly on Matt Damon's limited range as an actor. Of course, I quickly glanced over my shoulder first, to make sure that he wasn't walking behind us.