Image courtesy of Screen Rant

Green Zone
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Written by: Brian Helgeland (screenplay), Rajiv Chandrasekaran (book)
Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan, and Brendan Gleeson

It’s too bad The Hurt Locker just cleaned up at the Academy Awards a week ago.  This film’s glaring conformity to the “Political war film” genre would be less obvious, and the suspense it does generate wouldn’t look so pathetic in comparison to Kathryn Bigelow’s mastery.

That being said, what is here isn’t terrible.  Paul Greengrass is one of the good action directors we have, and he films this with the breakneck pacing he did in the last two Bourne movies.  If that turned you off, stay clear of Green Zone.

Another thing aiding this conformist military drama is the ensemble cast.  Headed by Matt Damon as the soldier looking for answers and backed up by the excellent Greg Kinnear as a slimy government official, both actors score knockouts.  Brendan Gleeson also excels as the CIA agent butting heads with Kinnear.  It’s too bad the great Amy Ryan is reduced to the background in a role that is covered up the same way the Iraq invasion is in the film.

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