Green Zone

Matt Damon - collaborting again with director Paul Greengrass (of the 2nd and 3rd installments of the Bourne Trilogy) - plays Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller who has been tasked with the mission of locating weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in Iraq.  The problem is, every time Miller receives intel on a new location where these weapons are suspected of being housed, he winds up with a big fat goose egg.  After several failed attempts to locate WMDs, Miller starts becoming suspicious of where this intel is coming from and starts questioning the people supplying him with the information, namely U.S. Defense Intelligence Agent Clark Poundstone (played by the perfectly smug and weaselly Greg Kinnear).  As Miller continues digging to figure out why the need for a cover-up and who is responsible, he unearths more truths than he bargained for.  Damon is dependable but a little stiff at playing the good soldier, though he can hardly be blamed since Miller is written as a pretty two-dimensional character.  I could understand why Miller would be so wary of authority after what he's seen during the war, but I was still a little surprised by how quickly he goes rogue and turns his back on his government.  I just didn't buy that an army officer with as much experience and rank as Miller had would turn traitorous so quickly; that being said, I didn't disagree with his actions and his courage for questioning his leaders.  Brendan Gleeson and Amy Ryan provide solid support as a disgruntled CIA operative and a Wall Street Journal reporter, respectively.  We don't get much insight into the motivation behind any of these people as none of them are really fleshed-out; it seems as if character development takes a backseat to the explosions and gunfire.  The action scenes were stimulating and shot in a gritty and realistic fashion, though I wish Greengrass had gone with a less grainy film stock that would have been less distracting.  Overall, I liked (and mostly agreed) with the message that the film was trying to send.  Considering the subject matter, though, I would have preferred the message be delivered in a less simplistic manner.


3 out of 5 stars

Editor's Note: I just have to say, this is probably one of the worst DVD covers I have seen in a long time.  Talk about a photo that tells you absolutely nothing about the movie and serves only to market the film based on its one star.  Pitiful.