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In Reply to: Don't you hate it when business executives are cartoonized? Don't you expect... posted by clarkjohnsen on December 10, 2005 at 07:34:54:
"Syriana has a lot of big, important things to say about big, important things... It's as earnestly, politically left-leaning as Jarhead is coyly apolitical; it's also the kind of movie that requires a viewer to work actively for comprehension, and to chalk up any lack of same to his or her own deficiency in the face of something so evidently smart."...and there's no reason given for the double-dealing, power plays, and American capitalist thuggery that shape the landscape. (What little humanity this trio of clueless, overmatched American men retains is conferred by fleeting interaction with kin...).
"While those with an eye for vast left-wing conspiracies are welcome to believe that Gaghan planned all along to make a movie shaped like a big-picture that fails to take into account small-picture human needs, I am not one of those conspiracy junkies; I think the absence of soul is just the filmmaker's big gaffe."
B-
-- Lisa Schwarzbaum
Other reviews too remarked on the cartoonish quality of the oily oil men. It's all so simple, when businessmen are the baddies.
clark
Follow Ups:
Of course she covered that by saying that the film malkes you feel it's your own fault if you don't get it but, frankly, it's not hard to get so she's either not terribly bright, didn't really care or wasn't really paying attention.Also, the movie definitely had soul and compassion (provided by Clooney, the Emir, the Pakistani guys father and Matt Damon's wife) and Clooney getting double crossed and double crossed again wasn't arbitrary if one is paying attention. Also there was no nuclear weapon anywhere in the movie (nor any allusion to any)
You should see it and should try and un-makeup your mind that you won't like it.
"Where are we going? And what am I doing in this hand basket?"
I asked you a couple of questions about why Hollywood hates businessmen on the screen. You chose instead to assume that I had my mind made up not to like it, or even to see it. You couldn't be more wrong (although I hardly know you -- maybe you could be!): I actually made up my mind *to* see it. Whether I'll like it is a separate matter.Nor did you address my questions! I was hoping you'd note the irony of the hatefulness portrayed on screen, compared to the utter savagery with which businessmen do behave in Hollywood.
As for calling a woman "not terribly bright"... or, worse... well... I'm forwarding your note to NOW. Expect a punch on your nose.
clark
They are tough for sure and they don't think much of some American laws, but they also express a sense of patriotism and altruism. It's not all greed and selfishness that drives these men. There are plenty of movie portrayals of evil capitalists. This is much more nuanced.
as executives should, i.e. make decisions to maximize profits. Corporate law prohibits officers from having any other motive than stock appreciation.
I don't expect oilmen to express altruism so I didn't feel the portrayals were negative. They seemed accurate.
z
(do you pride yourself on a closed mind?), so follow his lead and just stay home and read reviews, preferably the same ones he does.
You are the only guy around here who argues about a film without having seen it. You'd probably need more than three guesses to understand why.
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