It's not that there's anything disgusting in the movie; no graphic depictions of bloodshed or anything like that. And it's not like this is a photorealistic depiction of Middle Eastern politics, or of American oil politics; it's a geopolitical thriller, and the matters were all heightened for that. The imam in the madrassa didn't sound like an imam in a Pakistani madrassa, and reformers as genuine as the younger prince are about as common in this part of the world as... well, as honest governments. The obvious didactic bits like the "corruption is good" speech are curiously unaffecting. But something in this movie captured the basic essence of the whole matter, just how fundamentally filthy the whole business is. And by "this whole business," I'm thinking of the whole matter of governance there, and of the various ways it gets played both internally and externally.
Anyway, it's not a bad movie; as geopolitical thrillers go, I'd say it's a notch below "The Constant Gardener," and a notch above most of the other ones that have been made in the past few years. It's definitely one of the few to really tackle the important political issues of our day, and not flinch from any of them, and that's worth a look.
If you do go see it, some things that it didn't really highlight but were there: the business/government tie on the US side is always implied, never direct. The movie isn't claiming that oil executives put out hits on uncooperative emirs; the connection is much looser, and in fact it portrays it reasonably well. (In caricature, but the real thing is recognizably there) And that convoy at the end -- all nice imagery aside, they are on their way to a coup. A nice game, this is not.
