Green Zone (2010)

Green Zone, the latest collaboration between director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon, is a movie with a message. What a shame that the message is ham-handed and one-sided. At least with their previous projects together–The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum–audience members knew exactly what to expect as uber-spy Jason Bourne darted from one shootout or car chase to the next. In Green Zone, we’re fed a tasteless blend of thriller, action, and war genres. Any one of these would’ve sufficed.

Damon is Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, a dutiful member of the Army serving during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He and his men are part of an element responsible for finding weapons of mass destruction, but they keep noticing something odd while carrying out their missions: There are no WMDs to be found. After raising questions about the source of their information, Miller comes to the attention of Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson), the Baghdad bureau chief for the CIA. Brown agrees that something doesn’t add up, and the two noble souls agree to join forces. But standing in their way is Pentagon weasel Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear), the type of guy who would call in an air strike on his mother if she stood in the way of democracy.

The early phases of the film are handled deftly enough, with Greengrass capturing the chaos and desperation of a city under siege. Snipers peek out from open windows, and looters rub elbows with those lining up to welcome (or curse) the arriving U.S. military. Despite being filmed in Spain and Morocco, there’s a very real sense of begin immersed in a war zone.

As for Roy Miller, he’s the Hollywood version of the ideal American soldier. In Baghdad to save lives, he’s willing to bend a few rules to get to the truth. If that includes rescuing enemy leaders and going behind the backs of his superiors, then so be it. In real-life, something tells me that’s the quickest way to a stay in Leavenworth or dishonorable discharge.

Damon lends the character his considerable all-American charm, but the script by Brian Helgeland gives him little to do besides alternate between looks of determination and outrage. Brendan Gleeson has a bit more meat to chew, but even his CIA agent with unpopular opinions feels glossed over. And worst of all is Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan), an ambitious reporter for The Wall Street Journal. She exists for the sole purpose of providing Miller with a key piece of information to keep his investigation moving forward. While not quite the dreaded deus ex machina, she treads on ground that’s suspiciously close.

Green Zone’s most compelling character, a patriotic Iraqi nicknamed Freddy (Khalid Abdalla), allows us to see the conflict through the eyes of the locals, but even he isn’t immune to the clumsy and heavy-handed message of the script. His final defiant line of dialogue–which Miller digests with mouth agape in naïve shock–is enough to bring the film to a screeching halt. And how exactly does a limping man with an artificial leg show up at just the right moment during a running gun battle through the dimly-lit alleys of Baghdad? Score another one for the god from the machine.

After three Bourne films, Damon is an old pro at action scenes, but even those are watered down thanks to Hollywood’s continued obsession with rapid editing and jerky camera movement. During the final chase in particular, a few moments are nothing more than a mass of brownish walls and debris. Constructing well-framed action sequences has truly become a lost art in Hollywood.

There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq…that much has become clear over the years. For whatever reason, Greengrass and Damon felt the need to remind us of this fact for nearly two hours. And regardless of your political affiliations, only so much pleasure can be derived from watching a dead horse being flogged at your local multiplex.

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