Enter the theater on this one with pre-conceived notions that it'll be a one sided leftist Hollywood affair, and you'll only be partly right. The end result with Green Zone is a better than expected Iraq War episode, one we found more rewarding than the celebrated Hurt Locker. As for the politics, there's some of that and in the end the message is sort of "America bad, America greedy", but it's moderated by enough proper storytelling that you shouldn't care. Director Greengrass and Actor Damon hook up once more to rekindle their born of Bourne collaboration, yet don't let that put you off, Damon doesn't do an invincible super soldier here, and doesn't get to dispatch hordes of bumbling mercenaries in the process. Instead, he's an army chief warrant officer commanding a team of WMD hunters. After the invasion is well under way, Damon's Roy Miller notices that the intel his team has been fed leads to empty warehouses and no mass destruction whatsoever. Questioning the source of these tips, Miller comes upon a deep rooted manipulation of world politics involving shady DC honcho Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear), who's the most disappointing character in the whole movie. They try to make him singularly responsible for the war, which is ludicrous and not workable. On the plus side, Damon does well and is assisted by several quality thespians, like Jason Isaacs, who plays a special ops officer involved in the conspiracy. While a minor character, he does his usual macho villain magic with great aplomb and deftly lends the role unexpected depth. Too bad it wasn't developed at more length. Meanwhile, Brendan Gleeson acts as a sympathetic CIA lead agent that helps Miller along in unraveling this mess, but this turn as a Langley-sourced ally doesn't become Gleeson one bit. Then there's the assortment of assisting personas, such as Miller's local interpreter and reluctant partner Freddy (played by Kite Flyer's Khalid Abdalla), obvious journalist Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan) and stereotypical Iraqi general Al-Rawi (Igal Naor). The latter is at the focus of the plot, because he symbolizes the old Iraq and the US lapse in tapping established politics in building a post-Saddam nation. Green Zone is very watchable, the story tight and the dialogue apt. The action isn't bad but some of the shaky cam work leaves audiences confused. Overall, everything on screen is quite believable, there's some preachy politics but not too much, and Miller indeed never spills over into Ramboland. Also, some of the engagements within the story are ambiguous, so it's not easy to say which one is truly a good or bad character. However, this isn't to say Green Zone is a spectacular triumph. It's one of the better Iraq War movies out there, but still lacking in professionalism – Damon carries his rifle around like an umbrella most of the time, and the soldiering skills depicted aren't all that impressive. In the end, the title is likewise misleading , because the Green Zone itself never plays a major part in proceedings. However, this is nonetheless a recommended flick you should check out to remind yourself mainstream Hollywood fare can be a pleasant surprise.
Review of Green Zone
