Green Zone (2010)

Green Zone

Rating: 4/5

Matt Damon stars as Roy Miller in Green Zone

Green Zone is an engrossing political thriller that tackles some very difficult subjects. When I first saw the trailer, my first conceived notion was that the movie was just a "Bourne" movie in Iraq. The movie is done by director Paul Greengrass who directed "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum" but "Green Zone" is most definitely not just another Bourne movie.

Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting) stars in the movie as Chief Warrant Officer, Roy Miller, who is on the team heading up the search for the WMD's upon the invasion of Iraq. After visiting several sites, Miller realizes that there are actually no WMD's. Clark Poundstone, played by Greg Kinnear (Little Miss Sunshine), tells Miller to just simply do his job after Miller questions the intelligence surrounding the invasion. It was somewhat of a joy to see Greg Kinnear in this movie after watching "The Last Song" which also starred him. Kinnear shows off his great acting abilities in this film.

After receiving no help from Poundstone, Miller meets Martin Brown played Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges). Brown is an old CIA office who has been stationed in the middle east for sometime and like Miller is somewhat skeptical of the intelligence surrounding the invasion. The screenplay of "Green Zone" is quite good and helps one reflect on the Iraq War with a different viewpoint.

In the "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum", director Greengrass used a series of fast cuts and handheld shots that became somewhat distracting. With Greenzone, Greengrass has toned down the fast cuts and made the handheld shots less distracting. It is of course with the help of cinematographer, Barry Ackroyd, who was nominated for an Academy Award last year for his work on "The Hurt Locker". Another reason why the cinematography became so much less distracting is that it  wasn't used as much of a crutch like it was in the "Bourne" movies but instead helped fit the film better. "Green Zone" is a great thriller that gives great perspectives on the Iraq War.