Green Zone

2010, Rated R, 115 minutes Directed by Paul Greengrass, Written by Brian Helgeland, based on the book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Produced by Lisa Chasin & Debra Hayward, Cinematography by Barry Akroyd, Original Music by John Powell

With: Yigal Naor (General Al Rawi), Matt Damon (Miller), Amy Ryan (Lawrie Dayne), Greg Kinnear (Clark Poundstone), Brendan Gleeson (Martin Brown), Jason Isaacs (Briggs)

In an attempt to distance the movie from the war in the Iraq box office curse, Universal decided to market Green Zone as a movie with that director from Bourne Supremacy and Ultimatum, and Jason Bourne in the US army; the only problem is the movie does not really compare with any of the Bourne series and so draws viewers in with false expectations...at least that is what happened to me.

Green Zone is a story about the search for Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) at the beginning of the war in Iraq. Directly after the fall of Baghdad, Warrant Officer Chief Miller (Matt Damon) is tasked with tracking down the WMD that caused the war to begin. The only problem is, every site he and his team go to, lacks any sign of WMD. Miller questions the intel that provides the location of the weapons. He wants to do his duty to save lives from the tyranny and the potential destructive power of Iraq and while some say it is not that simple he replies “it is for me.” However, as more and more intel sites come up empty Miller begins to dig deeper and become wholly dissatisfied with the process. He teams up with CIA agent Martin Brown (Brendon Gleeson) to try and track down the source of the intel Magellan. Brown is in the middle of talks on how to what to do next in Iraq and is pitted against Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) a Pentagon official in charge.

The movie jumps to various meetings between bureaucrats, army officials, special forces, CIA agents, and reporters. Miller realizes that there is no official channel to discern the intel and decided to go about finding it himself. He brings along his newly found translator as he travels through the streets of Baghdad trying to track down General Al Rawi (Yigal Naor). Battles ensue down back allies, people are killed in covert ops, and it is not clear who is going to prevail, the good guy (Miller) or the United States (the bad guy embodied by Poundstone and a special forces team led by Briggs (Jason Isaacs).

The plot leads you down twists and turns but never really develops all of them and presents a poor and hurried resolution. Many important characters in the film are left completely undeveloped like the reporter Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan) who could have been a complex character integral to the plot but instead serves as a transitionary character who fills in small plot holes.

Damon’s character, Chief Miller, is no Jason Bourne. You will not find scenes where Miller is able to take down a squad of men with his bare hands. Miller has enough trouble handling one. The action sequences, while shot very well, are a small part of the film. What Universal led many to believe would be an action packed adventure in Iraq with a seasoned fighter, turns out to be a movie about political talking heads and behind the scenes deals to bring about peace in Iraq. The reality is that Universal put out a movie about the war in Iraq that is actually about the war in Iraq; but trying not to be too political about a very political situation causes the movie to fall short of its potential.

Damon does a great job with his character and the acting is not the problem; the problem is the character himself. The other actors get little screen time each and while most do an ample job, none really stand out as strong performances. Amy Ryan seems to be lost amidst the struggle as she tries to figure out her own place and role in the film.

Greengrass did an excellent job with the movie he was dealt. The film shows great directing, but a great director can only do so much with an average script. His shaky cam technique that he used in the Bourne movies is very well done and quite at home for a Iraq war movie. The action sequences are very well thought out and even seem a bit more realistic: when battles occur in the dark for instance, it is difficult to figure out what exactly is going on and Greengrass brings that feel to the screen. Filmed in Spain, Morocco and London, the production design team created what felt like an authentic 2003 Iraq.

Green Zone, while a moderately entertaining film, is caught in between a political drama and an action thriller and does a mediocre job of mixing the two. The script left much to be developed and desired. That said, the direction of Greengrass and acting of Damon are great. Put all those together you get a movie with a great feel but not enough plot.

B-

Content Advisory

There is standard war violence but nothing intensely graphic, several intense fighting scenes and numerous uses of profanity

Food for Thought/discussion


1. The rationale for going to war can sometimes be very clear and other times be quite murky. What view does Green Zone  portray as the rationale for war in Iraq?

2. The movie deals with Chief Miller's conflict to follow command or do what he saw as the right thing. At what point in war does the opinion of a man on the field override commands from above?

3. How do you discern what is right? How do you react when your definition of right is challenged from above?