Green Zone (2010); action drama thriller film review

Poster artwork for the action drama film Green Zone.

Bourne In Baghdad by Linh

Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum) helms another action-packed drama film. Green Zone, which stars Oscar winner Matt Damon who also appeared in his Bourne movies. In Green Zone, Greengrass places the hero in the midst of a real-life event to uncover the truth behind the lies, deceit and a conspiracy that sends hundreds of US soldiers to war in Iraq.

The film grew out of a curiosity for Greengrass and writer Brian Helgeland who wondered about the intrigue, fear and paranoia in searching for weapons of mass destruction (WMD).  They question the justification of war against Iraq based on the claim from the Bush administration that Saddam Hussein had WMDs. Their collaboration has created a film with the right combination of action, drama and thrills to keep the viewer engaged in the story and its characters. The film is loosely based on Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s book titled Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, with some fictitious elements in Green Zone that are for entertainment purposes. The film is set a few months into the War on Iraq, but Rajiv Chandrasekaran, who was the Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post, tells of life in US-occupied Iraq first-hand, yet he allows the reader to judge the impact of US occupation in post-war Iraq.

HUNTING WMDs: Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) continues to seek WMDs without success in the film Green Zone. Image: Universal Pictures.

The film begins with Chief Warrant Roy Miller (Matt Damon) and his team of soldiers in search for WMDs in various locations throughout Iraq during the early days of the war in 2003. It is the third location he and his team have searched but still no WMDs were found. Miller starts to ask too many questions regarding the source of the information on WMDs and he places himself in danger as high-ranking US government officials hinder and attempt to foil Miller’s pursuit of the truth.

Green Zone has been compared with the Best Picture Academy Award winning film The Hurt Locker, but there are clear differences in both films. The Hurt Locker concentrates on the dangerous job of US soldiers in bomb disposals, whereas Green Zone features a rogue soldier who breaks away from his assigned task of WMD retrieval. The Hurt Locker is largely devoid of opinions for the War in Iraq and it is hardly a film about the war, but Green Zone has obvious leanings towards anti-war sentiment. The Hurt Locker gets its name from a slang term used by US soldiers to describe a painful and destructive place they’d never want to be, but the Green Zone is an American military occupied location in the Middle East that has the appearance of a five star resort hotel.

Greengrass has selected an excellent ensemble cast who all bring believability and some mystery to their roles. Matt Damon is the epitome of what heroes are made of in Green Zone as the courageous and honourable Chief Roy Miller.  Miller’s frustration at not uncovering any WMDs at the allocated sites as ordered by faulty intelligence, reflects the feelings of many critics of the War in Iraq, and Matt Damon is superb in conveying the confusion of a patriotic American, and the eagerness to uncover the truth of the existence of any WMD. 

Brendan Gleeson portrays the CIA officer Martin Brown who represents the middle-man for the US and the Middle East. Gleeson gives his character, Martin Brown, the rugged and experienced look of a man whose pragmatic approach to business has earned him much respect yet he continues to be cautious at every turn.

Amy Ryan who was brilliant in Gone Baby Gone, plays Lawrie Dayne, a foreign correspondent for the Wall Street Journal publication, who holds a vital piece of information that helps Roy Miller track down the truth he’s seeking. Ryan provides an air of mystery and ambiguity in a convincing portrayal of her character who is quick to believe but just as quick to judge.

The supporting cast is equally wonderful including British actor of Egyptian descent, Khalid Abdalla, who is fantastic as the local Arab nick-named Freddy, with a prosthetic left leg, and befriends Roy Miller, also assisting him right until the end before a devastating encounter ends their alliance; Greg Kinnear does well with the role of Clark Pounderstone, a high-ranking Pentagon Defence Department official who thwarts Roy Miller’s plans in revealing the truth about WMDs; Yigal Naor plays General Al Rawi, the second-in-charge after Saddam Hussein in the Ba’ath Party, and gives an intense performance of a seemingly innocent player in any involvement with WMDs; and Jason Isaacs is Miller’s nemesis Major Briggs from Special Forces who is steely-eyed and ready to shoot on order as he thwarts Miller’s every move.

ELUSIVE WMDs: Major Briggs (Jason Isaacs) of Special Forces attempts to hinder Chief Roy Miller's  (Matt Damon) pursuit of the truth about WMDs in the film Green Zone. Image: Universal Pictures.

Although the film is set in Iraq’s capital Baghdad, most of the scenes were filmed in Morocco, Spain and in the UK; yet the art and production design team have excelled in depicting a very realistic creation of the streets of Baghdad. Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd, who also filmed The Hurt Locker, exhibits the same attention to detail and some queasy-cam techniques are relevant to the action scenes in Green Zone. There are a couple of horrendous scenes where Iraqi women and children flee or shield themselves from the volley of bullets as men exchange gunfire inside homes.

Green Zone has the same slick and smart editing as seen in the Bourne films, as well as a clever film script that teases the audience’s curiosity, and tempt their appetite for compelling drama and explosive action.

TRUTH ABOUT WMDs: Reporter Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan) and Chief Roy Miller (Matt Damon) get closer to the facts about the WMD programme in the film Green Zone. Image: Universal Pictures.

Director: Paul Greengrass 

Writers: Brian Helgeland (screenplay), Rajiv Chandrasekaran (book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone)

Cast: Matt Damon, Brendan Gleeson, Greg Kinnear, Khalid Abdalla, Amy Ryan, Yigal Naor, Aymen Hamdouchi , Martin McDougall, Jason Isaacs, Nicoye Banks, Jerry Della Salla, Sean Huze, Lewis Alsamari, Omar Berdouni, Said Faraj, Faycal Attougui

Producers: Tim Bevan, Debra Hayward, Liza Chasin, Tadeo Villalba hijo, Alvaro Ron, Jo Burn, Eric Fellner, Christopher Rouse, Zakaria Alaoui,  Michael Bronner, Kate Solomon, Lloyd Levin, Mairi Bett

Original Music Composer: John Powell      

        

Cinematographer: Barry Ackroyd

                 

Film Editor: Christopher Rouse  

Production: Dominic Watkins (Production Designer), Juan Pedro De Gasper (Art Director), Lee Sandales (Set Decorator)

Costume Designer: Sammy Sheldon

        

Languages: English, Arabic with English subtitles

Running Time: 1 hour and 55 minutes