Syriana - 5

An interesting film with a good topic, and lots of potential. I say potential because the film lacked character development. It tries to be like Crash and Traffic but is not committed to strong dialogue for one to start to care about the people involved (Speaking of Traffic, this film was written by the same author, Stephen Gaghan.). You end up knowing very little about the people and their struggles. This probably has to do with the fact that there are quite a few story lines to follow. A film that gets at the same theme is Lord of War which follows the story of one man. The film is about government corruption and how it sucks the life out of those that want to work for good. It is based on the book See No Evil by Robert Baer, which seems similar to the book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins. It is hard to see the possibilities of a new outlook through all the cynicism that these stories seem to show in the realm of politics. Is cynicism and numbness the only response possible in our current political climate?
How about these lines given very well by Tim Blake Nelson: "Corruption charges. Corruption? Corruption ain’t nothing more than government intrusion into market efficiencies in the form of regulation. That’s Milton Friedman. He got a goddamn Nobel prize. We have laws against it precisely so we can get away with it. Corruption is our protection. Corruption is what keeps us safe and warm. Corruption is why you and I are prancing around here instead of
fighting each other for scraps of meat out in the streets. (beat)
Corruption... is how we win."