The movie carries the brand names of the several famed executive directors including Steven Soderburg and George Clooney (also actor of a supporting role, Bob Barnes, an CIA agent in the film) and a great cast including Clooney himself, Matt Demon (as energy specialist Bryan Woodman) and Christopher Plummer (as Dean Whiting, management of a US law firm).

Denoted by the title (a real term used by the US think tank to describe a hypothetical reshaping of the Middle East), the film is about an ideologically charged political story on the intrigues among various units in the US government and the US oil companies for the self interests of the States and the gigantic energy conglomerates. The theme is a portrayal on the immoral doings arising from economic self interest but not a rebuke to it. Rather it connotes the necessity of national and corporate economic interest over morality and the greater perspective of international harmony. The ending suggests, though not overtly, the superiority of violent and non-peaceful strategies over equity and justice in search of the self-centred nirvana. The roles of protagonists and antagonists are fused to inseparability. It is a mockery on the power struggles and acts of the "haves", a scorn on the illusion of justice and a regretful sympathy to the "have nots", on both the national and international perspectives.

Director Stephen Gaghan adopts a multi-plot, unrestricted narrative structure for the film. Cross-editing links up the multiplicity of plots on namely, Barnes, Woodman, the management of the law firm, CIA's management, the CEOs of the energy conglomerates, Royal family of the unnamed Middle East country (probability either Saudi Arabia or Kuwait) and the oil field labourers across a number of spatial orientations. Gaghan uses mobile framing (instead of traditional tracking) in most scenes to complement the theme of instability and hidden agenda. All key actors stage very well. The use of off-screen dialogues and asynchronized vocals as sound bridge further adds strengths to the theme of intrigues and conspiracy. It is a good film that takes the audience to reflect the political and economic balance (or imbalance) of power of today's world. It is a "must see" for those who care our world.