An all-star cast brings this remake of Wai Keung Lau and Alan Mak's INFERNAL AFFAIRS to the screen. Martin Scorsese's film follows the story of two Boston police officers, one of whom is a member of the Irish Mafia who has infiltrated the ranks of the police, and the other is a bona fide cop sent on an undercover mission to join the Irish Mafia.
Given the reputation of Gangstar movies which Scorsese is famous for, I was a bit surprised that he copied a HK movie and top of that failed to execute it in the street gang style which he is so famously known for. The performances in the movie were very weak. Jack Nicholson, in my opinion is now over the hill and should forget about acting. Matt Damon, well hes pretty ordinary in his role. I was surprised by DiCaprio - he probably played his part the best. Don't rush to the movies for this, I think this falls under the DVD rental for a Saturday night.
My flickometer is 3.5/5.... hey even famous directors screw up once in a while.
Stephen Gaghan, who won an Oscar for Best Screenplay for TRAFFIC, makes his directorial debut with SYRIANA, an espionage thriller set in the Middle East.
George Clooney stars as Bob Barnes, a longtime CIA agent preparing to slow down his life and spend more time with his teenage son (Max Minghella). But his last secret mission, getting rid of Prince Nasir (Alexander Siddig), turns out to be more complicated than he imagined, placing him in the middle of a dangerous conspiracy involving government corruption, oil, and international terrorism.
Matt Damon, plays Bryan Woodman, an energy man whose ethics become vulnerable after the horrific loss of one of his sons. Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., lawyers Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) and Dean Whiting (Christopher Plummer) also must choose between the government's special interests and what's best for the world (as well as their own special interests).
The movie seamlessly brings all the different parties together and it was brilliantly orchestrated. The real essence of the film is 'this is a war, and its never really going to end'. The movie shows the external forces at work, the U.S Government, royal families, islamic factions. Petroleum the global commodity gets the attention of every capitalist, this inturn drives the different factions to keep to their vested interests. If you wanted to get a glimpse of how international business is done by large corporations then see Syriana. It will scare you and reinforce the belief that dont always believe whats written in the papers.
My flickometer gives the movie a 4.5/5.0.
Managed to watch Steven Spielberg's Munich. Munich recounts the dramatic story of the secret Israeli squad assigned to track down and assassinate 11 Palestinians believed to have planned the 1972 Munich massacre -- and the personal toll this mission of revenge takes on the team and the man who led it. Eric Bana (Troy) stars as the Mossad agent charged with leading the band of specialists brought together for this operation.
My personal take on the movie is that it really could have been made a lot better. The plot, the maturity of the mossad squad made the movie look like the Israeli's look like they were either playing around with the intention to track down the assasins. I guess the movie is more about the personal journey taken by Eric Bana, the constant questioning on the validity of killing the 11 palestinians.
My flickometer gives the movie a 3.5/5.0.
