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When Syriana writer-director Stephen Gaghan finally got around to reviewing his Oscar ballot yesterday, he was alarmed to discover that his screenplay, which he maintains was largely based on Robert Baer's memoir See No Evil: The True Story of a Ground Soldier in the CIA's War on Terrorism, was reclassified by the Academy from an adapted to an original work:

"I'm in shock," said writer-director Gaghan, who received his ballot Tuesday and only realized the reclassification Wednesday evening. "A phone call would have been nice, or an e-mail or letter. I understand it's a gray area, but I'm saddened. Just let us know."[...]


The Academy didn't offer any reason why the film was reclassified but insisted the procedure is fairly common. In any given year, there are eight to 12 screenplays that will be reclassified by the executive committee before the reminder list goes out, the spokeswoman said.

While the reclassification gets Syriana out of the way of the big, gay cowboy juggernaut that is Brokeback Mountain, it now pits it against such formidable original screenplay competition as Good Night and Good Luck, The Squid and the Whale, and Crash. Seeing as the original screenplay category often awards the quirky (Squid) or the easily digestible sociopolitical message (Luck, Crash), we'd say Gaghan really doesn't have much a chance in either category, and should just put his Oscar chips on the bearded, bloated genius of George Clooney's Golden Globe-winning Syriana performance.