Marking its 20th anniversary, Stephen Gaghan’s 2005 political thriller Syriana features George Clooney’s Oscar-winning performance amid an ensemble cast. The film is based on a memoir, See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA’s War on Terrorism, by former CIA operative Robert Baer.

Set against the volatile landscape of the Middle East oil industry, Syriana interlaces several converging narratives. In Washington, the powerhouse firm Sloan Whiting taps attorney Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) to shepherd a questionable merger between Connex Oil and Killen Oil. Abroad, energy analyst Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) travels to Switzerland to meet the influential Al-Subaai family of the Persian Gulf—an encounter that brings both devastating loss and unexpected professional doors. At the same time, veteran CIA operative Bob Barnes (George Clooney) stumbles onto a deeply troubling assassination scheme whose roots run far deeper than he expects.

Syriana follows in the tradition of 1970s political thrillers, tackling geopolitical issues without pointing fingers at any country or individual. Shot on location in Morocco, the apolitical film takes audiences to places in Iran, Texas, Washington, D.C., Switzerland, Spain, and Lebanon. Casablanca stood in for quite a few locations. With so many interweaving storylines in Gaghan’s Oscar-nominated screenplay, it’s understandably no surprise that a subplot involving Miss USA and a wealthy Arab oilman was ultimately cut. The multiple storylines are already causing quite a bit of confusion!

Gaghan was inspired to make Syriana while researching for his Oscar-winning screenplay for Traffic, noticing parallels between drug trafficking and America’s dependence on foreign oil. America has dominated the business. This dependency on foreign oil—much of it from the Middle East—is why we need to find alternatives in how we live our daily lives.

A big part of Syriana deals with Congress’s efforts to deconstruct the CIA through budget cuts. The Cold War ended in 1991, but terrorism and Middle Eastern politics dominated the 2000s. While Clooney’s Barnes draws on Baer’s experiences in his approach to the role, he isn’t mimicking the real-life operative. The CIA downsizing that cost Baer his job mirrors Barnes’s career unraveling, set against a backdrop of the geopolitical events seen in the film.

While many people might assume CIA operatives live like James Bond, the reality is very different. Two-thirds of the job is spent reading. Barnes is barely holding his life together as his career nears its end through no fault of his own. As Syriana makes clear, Barnes is no James Bond—not even close. He’s the kind of person whose role is to simply blend in with the crowd.

Clooney—standing in for Robert Baer—headlines an all-star cast and earned a well-deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Interestingly, the role of Barnes was originally offered to Harrison Ford, who turned it down. Prior to the Oscars that year, Ford admitted his regrets to the Irish Examiner:

“I didn’t feel strongly enough about the truth of the material and I think I made a mistake. I think the film underwent some changes and I think a lot of it is very truthful. The things that I thought weren’t, were obviated after I left the table.”

To think there’s a universe where Ford might have won an Oscar some twenty years after earning his sole Oscar nomination for Witness.

Syriana is a true ensemble piece, with the script as the standout. The film also delves into Islamic fundamentalism and its impact on certain characters who get sucked into that world. This is especially true with regards to Wasim (Mazhar Munir) after being laid off by Connex. There is so much more that can be said here as the topic has only grown more relevant in the news on the two years since October 7.

It’s surprising that Gaghan, a fellow Louisville native, has directed so few films since Syriana. His follow-ups included Gold (2016) and Dolittle, the latter of which likely landed him in director’s jail. Interestingly, filmmaker Stephen Gaghan and actor/executive producer George Clooney—both Oscar winners—share May 6 birthdays, born in Louisville and Lexington, respectively. What are the odds? But anyway, Syriana is a film about oil and the price of it. Why is it so profitable and why does everyone want it so badly? What happens when oil eventually runs out?

Twenty years later, Syriana and its exploration of oil, politics, and the human cost behind global power remains as relevant today as it was in 2005. With a script that balances multiple storylines, a standout ensemble cast, and George Clooney’s Oscar-winning performance at its center, the film is a rare political thriller that rewards both casual viewers and those who dig into its complexities. It’s a reminder that the stakes behind geopolitics are rarely simple—and the consequences touch lives far beyond the boardrooms and oil fields.

DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Stephen Gaghan
CAST: George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Mazhar Munir, Tim Blake Nelson, Amanda Peet, Christopher Plummer, Alexander Siddig, Said Amadis, Jayne Atkinson, David Clennon, Sonell Dadral, Robert Foxworth, Peter Gerety, Nicky Henson, Akbar Kurtha, Tom McCarthy, Max Minghella, William C. Mitchell, Jamey Sheridan, Mark Strong, Amr Waked

Warner Bros. released Syriana in theaters on November 23, 2005. Grade: 4/5

Please subscribe to The Solzy Report and visit Dugout Dirt.