Everything is connected ... no, really ... you'll just have to trust us: "Syriana"

You know, I'm a smart guy. Finished top of my class in high school, went to a decent college, usually kick butt on "Jeopary," can count pi to ... um, four digits. Anyway, the point is that I normally can follow most plots and connect this guy to that in a movie. At least, I thought so.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to "Syriana."

Much has been made about the serpentine -- some would say muddled -- plot of what I guess is a geopolitical thriller. While some movies might be happy with a big ensemble cast and exotic locales, director Stephen Gaghan apparently thought moviegoers first needed whiplash, then needed to take notes. Seriously, this may be the first movie that should have had little discussion breaks every 20 minutes.

(My Lovely and Talented Wife no doubt loves this, as I'm the guy who never needs to clear up what's happened on screen, and usually gets annoyed when she wants to hash it out. "Just watch!")

This structure isn't a surprise given Gaghan wrote "Traffic," another movie that starts by throwing out a bunch of people in a bunch of places. In that case, you soon learn they're connected by drugs, and the result was a great story -- or set of stories. In "Syriana," the vice is oil, and the reach is even greater, from Texas to Washington to Switzerland to Iran to an unnamed fictional country at the center of all this.

I couldn't possibly explain even the basic plot because it's not basic. So let's just run down the players:
-- A CIA agent in the Middle East, played by George Clooney. He's all scruffy, pudgy and worn out -- perfect for the part.
-- A corporate lawyer working on an oil company merger, played by Jeffrey Wright. He's great simply because I can't believe it's the same guy who played Peoples Hernandez in "Shaft."
-- An energy analyst played by Matt Damon, whose perfect life is ruined before he gets idealistic. He's not bad, either, but aside from a few choice lines has a less juicy role.
-- An Arab prince (Alexander Siddig) who shares his ideas with Damon.
-- A slimy law firm head (Christopher Plummer).
-- A Pakistani former oil field worker (Mazhar Munir) recruited by fundamentalist Muslims.
-- An oil company exec (Chris Cooper).
-- A corrupt congressman (Tim Blake Nelson).

And on and on. Like I said, a lot of people in a lot of places. And yeah, it's hard to keep up and make all the connections. But it definitely wasn't boring, at least not to me. As I told someone the other day, it was a good hour to 90 minutes before I looked at my watch. Of course, that may have been because I thought I would miss something. "Wait a minute ... we're in Tehran again?"

No question "Syriana" isn't for everyone, especially in this holiday blockbuster season. But if you don't absolutely need a giant ape, a goblet of fire, or a lion, a witch and a wardrobe, this is a great chance to get insight to a huge issue, and maybe exercise your brain a bit. True, you may need to see it 2-3 times to digest everything -- I suspect I will -- but I like movies like that. It was the same way with this other recent movie about an important issue: the media. I refer, of course, to "Anchorman."