INSPIRED BY ROBERT Baer's See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism, Syriana is a genuinely political thriller. It's an elaborate fiction very much in the mode of Traffic, writer-director Stephen Gaghan's last screenplay, but better, with a more self-effacing directorial style and less distracting star personalities. It's also closer to the heart of the matter, being about what seemingly makes the world go around these days: international oil dealings, with all the violence and skulduggery that accompanies them.

A paunched-out, credibly weary George Clooney plays CIA agent Bob, who facilitates speedy deaths for inconvenient people in the oil-rich Near East. His promised final assignment before desk-job retirement is to eliminate Prince Nasir (Alexander Siddig), an emir's idealistic heir apparent who dares to give new drilling rights to the highest bidder – a Chinese concern – rather than to a Texas conglomerate. Meanwhile, Washington, DC, attorney Bennett Holiday (Jeffrey Wright) is expected to provide the Justice Department with enough evidence of corruption to punish the Texas corporation for some past dealings – but not enough to disrupt business as usual. American energy analyst Bryan Woodman (Matt Damon) becomes a close ally of the prince after a tragic accident pushes them together. And way down the economic totem pole, abruptly fired young energy-field grunt workers Wasim (Mazhar Munir) and Farooq (Sonnell Dadral) find acceptance, square meals, moral enlightenment, and some dangerous ideological zeal under a fundamentalist recruiter's wing.

While it conveys information in deft ways (often via images dislocated from the soundtrack), the story's crowded canvas does risk confusion. But apart from an occasional overblown speech, Syriana is engrossing, intelligent, well acted, and relevant enough to be the thinking lefty's movie of choice this holiday season. (DH)

'Syriana' opens Fri/9 at Bay Area theaters. See Movie Clock, in Film listings, for showtimes.