.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

Paul Greengrass is amassing quite the little resume. He has directed two Bourne films (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum) and an Oscar nominated film the September 11th attacks on U.S. soil (United 93). Throw in 2002's Bloody Sunday about the troubles in Ireland, and he has a nice four film streak of quality flicks on his filmography.

He's back behind the camera again, and again has Matt Damon (the two Bourne's) in the lead role in the new war/thriller Green Zone that is as topical a film as has been released this young year.

Green Zone stars Damon as Miller, a U.S. Army officer working in the Middle East who attempts to find Weapons of Mass Destruction. When repeated missions don't turn up the weapons as tipped by an unknown source, Miller goes rogue in an attempt to blow the cover off the falsies that have been permeating through high levels of government intelligence. This will lead Miller in a chase to individuals that hold truths that would prove the fabrication of source information as a pretense to involving U.S. Soldiers in the war in Iraq.

The film opens on March 19, 2003 in Baghdad, Iraq. We watch as the allied forces begin bombing the city and as government officials scramble for cover. A screen card pushes us four weeks later, where Miller is leading his troops to yet another empty warehouse based on leads given to him by his commanding officers.

As this is the third straight time that the intelligence has proven incorrect, Miller begins to question his superiors and his questioning catches the eye of CIA agent Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson). Brown has a hands on feel for the troubles in Iraq and is seen head butting with Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear), another government bureaucrat that outranks Brown in terms of 'who-you-know's. Miller and Brown form an awkward alliance. One (Miller), seeking the truth the other looking to expose Poundstone.

Things take a turn when Miller gets possession of a notebook from a captured Iraqi. The book has addresses which are important to both sides of the military action and a race between the Miller/Brown lead alliance and Poundstone's resources lead to unfortunate results.

Green Zone is probably too topical and smart for its own good. Iraq war movies have not proved gold at the box office in general (see Hurt Locker) and it is likely that an action film that surrounds the idea of America being duped into looking for Weapons of Mass Destruction that they were fully aware never existing might leave some of the stronger war and troop supporters a little cold. And let's be clear. Greengrass doesn't shy away from making a statement. Based on a screenplay by Brian Helgeland, Green Zone rams down your throat that the entire war is a farce.

Greengrass employs his near patented technique of making the camera as unsteady as possible without reflecting The Blair Witch Project. His jerky camera moments - in particular when the fighting gets intense - can be aggravating and characters sometimes hard to follow in the dark. But, one might successfully argue that in war, it is chaos personified and that this is the kind of viewpoint that an onlooker might experience.

There are two small subplots happening which help drive the film. One, the relationship Miller has with a reporter played by the Amy Ryan who has written uncollaborated stories about a source called Magellan used by army intelligence. The other story is that of Freddy, an Iraqi man that attempts to help Miller and ends up being a pivotal player in the story's unfolding.

There are some strong words in Green Zone. "It's not up to you to decide what happens here!" a crucial character yells to Miller at the point of the film's climax. And exchanges between Miller and Brown ("I thought we were all on the same side"/"Don't be naïve") help continue a very political message that runs the full course of the film.

With action sequences that are engaging, Green Zone ends up being a film that lays a heavy subject on theatre patrons while getting hearts racing through action sequences weaving throughout the decimated city of Baghdad.

The end result is a movie that is maybe more important that good, but still a complex and hard to ignore action film.