Film Night with JB. The Green Zone

[JB40]

There have been several iraq movies made in the last couple of years, but the subject isn't exactly a box office triumph. None of them have made much impression. That's not surprising, mostly they are pretty bad. Movies like 'redaction', the valley of elah, and the awful 'lion's for lambs' have hardly set the world on fire.
But there are two exceptions. The Hurt Locker, and Paul Greengrass's 'The Green Zone'. And ironically these movies are polar opposites. The Hurt Locker decided to by-pass all the unanswered questions and political maneouverings that have plagued the conflict and decided instead to concentrate on the job of bomb disposal and the people who do it. The green Zone, on the other hand, has taken the unanswered question and political shenanigans and created a gripping drama them.
greengrass has harnessed almost all the misgivings that people felt about the conflict and used them as building blocks for his story. The incompetence of the civilian leadership, the manipulation of that leadership by the Iraqi exiles they used as advisers, the lack of WMD's, the manipulation of the media, the power struggles between the CIA the army and the Whitehouse, and the obscene amounts of cash that went missing are all background details that are mapped out without being too intrusive into main action narrative that drives the movie.
That action involves a platoon sgt [played well by Mat Damon] who is given the job of tracking down Saddams WMD's. It doesn't take him long to realize he was on a wild goose chase, and starts to ask awkward questions. He meets up with the equally suspicious CIA agent [Brendan Gleeson who seems to have cornered the market in grizzled and old]. And the scene is set for a classic conspiracy thriller.
It's not just the subject matter that separates this movie from 'the Hurt Locker', the filming techniques are completely different too. With 'Locker' the low budget meant that everything was close-framed with the camera breathing down the soldiers necks, always looking over there shoulders. But with the green zone, the bigger budget allowed for the camera to be pulled back so we can take in more of the locations. An early fly-over shot seems to take in the whole city, like a reference map for the action to come. The raw 'hand held' camerawork [standard for the subject] has become a Greengrass signature, and his technique is seamless. Just enough wobbly camerawork to look 'real', but not too much that it becomes annoying [it's a fine line]. The cinematography is lush and deep, not bleached out and flat like a lot of documentary style movies. And there is extensive but subtle use of CGI. And the director knows where to put the camera to best catch the action. It doesn't become confusing even when there is all that screaming and running. The action scenes deliver, preventing the film becoming just a talk fest.
It's a very satisfying watch for anyone who has followed the arguments against the invasion, it compliments the viewer and is guaranteed to inspire feelings of 'I told you so'.
In the end, though. The green Zone may be a class act, but it wants to be a visceral thriller. It's too tasteful for it's own good. There is none of the dread that you felt watching the hurt locker. No knot in the stomach either.
So, for that reason I give it 3/5

[j59]

Thanks for the review. I'll give it a miss.

love jx

[ANiMALicious]

hmmmz watched hurt locker on a flight last year... wasnt too bad might give this a go jb


Ani

[nani]

Thank you, Jimmy.

I quite like your reviews because you don't write like it's 'reviews for dummies'. I've long since given up on the movie critics who write for the newspaper. It feels like they've been slung some money either way.