My Review: Green Zone (7/10)

¨Your government wanted to hear the lie Mr. Miller. They wanted Saddam out and they did exactly what they had to do. This is why you are here.¨

Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon have teamed up in the past before delivering the two blockbuster Bourne sequels which received a lot of critical acclaim and were box office hits. Greengrass was also nominated for an Oscar for his film United 93. Green Zone is his latest film, which isn`t as good as some of his previous work, but it is still a very solid political thriller with a good performance from the always reliable Matt Damon. The problem with Green Zone is that it came out a little too late because we have been bombarded with these Iraq War movies and audiences have grown weary of them. The Messenger and The Hurt Locker were exceptions because they focused more on the psychological impact of the war and stayed away from the political part, but Green Zone is a heavy political thriller. The movie never claims to be based on a true story so audiences have to understand that Greengrass is directing a fictional thriller which could be based on some solid conspiracy theories. From the many Hollywood movies that I have seen that claim to be based on true stories, I think this one could have said the same thing because it probably has some valid points, but you got to give credit to Greengrass who never claims such a thing and lets the audience decide whether they want to see it as a mere piece of fiction and enjoy the thriller or if they want to take into account the conspiracy theory. The movie was written by Brian Helgelund (who also wrote the screenplays for Robin Hood, Mystic River and Man on Fire) and it`s based on the book by Rajiv Chandrasekaran entitled Imperial Life in the Emerald City.

The story takes place in 2003 right after the Americans have invaded Iraq. Chief Miller (Matt Damon) and his men are in charge of finding the weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The problem is that every site they arrive at that supposedly hides the wmd`s are either empty or are old abandoned toilet factories. Chief Miller begins to suspect that the Intel that has been given to them is false and wants to know who the source of the information is. The man in charge of the military in Baghdad is Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) who tells Miller that the source is trustworthy and that he just do his job without questioning him. When Miller hears CIA agent, Martin Brown`s (Brendan Gleeson) theory that there are actually no wmd`s in Iraq he begins to take his side on this and does some investigating of his own. He meets a NY Times reporter named Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan) who wrote some articles about a meeting between a high US official and a man code-named Magellan who is supposed to be the source of all the Intel. The problem is that Lawrie actually never met this man and only received the information from Poundstone and now that the weapons can`t be found she begins to question him. Miller realizes that all this could have been just an excuse for an invasion of Iraq and decides to investigate with the help of a local named Freddy (Khalid Abdalla from The Kite Runner) who serves as a translator and wants the best for his country. Together they begin uncovering some crucial information as the plot thickens.

Green Zone is a good movie, but Greengrass has set the bar too high with his previous films so I expected more from this. Matt Damon does a great job as the lead character and he is always a sure bet in an action film. Brendan Gleeson also gives a terrific performance as a supporting character and he is always good in these kinds of roles. Green Zone is a smart political thriller which can only be taken as a work of fiction, but actually opens your eyes and makes you question a lot of things that went on in Iraq. The conspiracy theory can be taken seriously, and the movie will raise your suspicions and want to make you become more informed about what actually went on Iraq. So the movie works  in that it serves as a tool for people to do some research and read some books on the subject, but you can`t base facts on this work of fiction. It only serves as a tool to make you question some things that went on. The problem is that the movie came out a few years too late and many people may have grown tired of this issue which has been highly exposed. That still doesn`t mean this is a bad film, so if you have a chance check it out because it is an entertaining political thriller.

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