Green Zone

Top Quality Movie...But I'm Still Recovering From Motion Sickness...Ugh!
When the credits rolled this afternoon, a gentlemen sitting behind me had to take a deep breath. "Man, I'm just worn out from watching the movie." I agreed with him.

This movie has all the excitement of the Jason Bourne series: hot action scenes, great sound editing, a tight script, a stellar soundtrack and excellent acting by everyone in the film, and I mean everyone!

But I couldn't handle all the camera shakes. In fact, half the movie is like this. I understand Hollywood is lately using hand-carried, un-dollyed camera techniques to create the sense of chaos and panic in a film, but this was just too much. It was like being on a roller coaster ride with the scene moving violently and not you. I regretted eating that pack of Skittles just before the film started. When I got home, I simply had to lie down for an hour.

It's a shame because the story is brilliant, and I love Matt Damon's strong acting style. If you're a fan of the Jason Bourne films, this...

"Don't be naive." Mostly made and vetted with soldiers who were in Iraq (...but the blu-ray's not worth it)
3.8 stars

Look at the comments and reviews for Hurt Locker here; there are dozens of soldiers pointing out how unreal so much of that film is, and how a real soldier wouldn't do much of what that film shows. Now look at the reviews and comments for Green Zone. I see exactly one soldier who thought it was unrealistic...and then only in how Damon's character steps over the political line of not doing what he's ordered to.

Almost all the soldiers in the film were in Iraq, and they made the decisions on the set about how the battle and other army scenes went. The head consultant, Monty Gonzales, was the guy who did in Iraq what Damon does here: look for WMDs. And for those who call this movie propaganda, he says on the extra doc here that he knew there were no WMDs after his first mission looking for them; Damon takes three missions to decide. So is that real-life soldier a liberal Hollywood propaganda plant? I don't think so.

Looking at this film purely...

U.S. wagging the dog
It seems that people in general are growing weary of any contemporary war stories. Green Zone was marketed as another slick action thriller, but it still sort of flopped at the box office. I was prepared for another simple, high octane popcorn flick with plenty of explosives and bullets whizzing by. But there is a much greater purpose here than to merely entertain. Director Paul Greengrass is sending out a startling message that hits with ferocious power. Packed with tremendous performances, this gets my vote for the surprise action movie of the year.

Matt Damon stars as Roy Miller, a Chief Warrant Officer on the hunt for Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. His frustration continues to mount as each search comes up empty. At a debriefing, he questions the intel that keeps sending his crew on these wild goose chases. His leaders seem pretty disinterested.

Here's where the story gets complex, plus totally fascinating. Loyalties and trust start to dissolve...

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