Review: Green Zone

There's a great scene in the The 40 Year Old Virgin where the guys are working in an electronics store and watching The Bourne Identity. They're in the middle of argument, but at one point Paul Rudd stops and says "You know, I used to think Matt Damon was like a Streisand, but he's rocking the s**t in this one!"

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It was funny because we were all thinking it-Damon was up to that point perhaps most famous for writing and starring in Good Will Hunting, the former of which won him an Oscar. Then came The Bourne Identity, and suddenly he was a big action star, beating up bad guys and evading evil government agents like it was his job all along.

Damon ended up making 2 out of the 3 Bourne films with director Paul Greengrass, and the pair re-unite for the political thriller Green Zone, starring Damon, Greg Kinnear, and Brendan Gleeson.

The film opens in March 2003 with the first bombing of Baghdad, marking the beginning of the current war in Iraq. In typical Greengrass style, the camera is handheld, creating a shaky, disorienting style that some love and others hate.

Cut to 4 weeks later, and we are introduced to Miller (played by Damon), a chief officer in the US army who has been placed in charge of examining sites with possible WMDs. In an intense opening scene, Miller's team is tasked with not only entering a site to search for WMDs, but also to take out a sniper from a building opposite the compound he is searching. Right away, Damon steps perfectly and believably into the role of a commanding army officer-he sounds natural, confident, and strong.

His team charges in, eliminating the sniper and carefully examining the site, only to find no trace at all of weapons. Upon returning to base camp, Miller brings up that the past 3 sites his team has traveled to had no weapons, making him question the intel he's been given. The higher ups, however, continue to tell Miller that the intel is legitimate, coming from a source known simply as "Magellan". Miller continues to doubt the legitimacy of the information, however, and swears to figure out why he's been coming up empty with each search.

Meanwhile, Clark Poundstone (Kinnear), a pentagon official welcomes the newly appointed Iraqi prime minister, who returns from exile to rule Iraq again. There are skeptics of this plan, especially Martin Brown (Gleeson), a CIA official who tells Poundstone that a man who has been exiled for decades is the last man they want to run an Iraq that is in turmoil. He's not the only one-General Al Rawi (played by Yigal Naor), Saddam Hussein's top general during his reign and the "jack of clubs" begins to discuss with other remaining Republican Guards whether they try to bargain with the Americans before they began a fight against them.

As Miller continues to attempt to discover what's really going on with his intel, he meets Freddy (played by Khalid Abdalla), a local who wants to help him. Freddy ends up leading Miller and his team to a meeting Al Rawi is holding, and a connection is made that changes everything.

The film is very well put-together--the writing is professional and sharp, the performances are convincing (especially Damon), and the cinematography is fittingly chaotic during action points. A quick note-if you got nauseous watching the Bourne films, you'll have no better luck here. The shaky camera, however, exemplifies the chaotic nature of the war and the combat involved, particularly in a climactic shootout/chase that has some of the best action I've seen in years.

Bottom line: If you enjoyed the Bourne films, are a fan of Damon and Greengrass, or are just looking for an entertaining but smart action movie, Green Zone is a great choice.