Non-Fiction Book Comes To Life In Green Zone August 13, 2010
A Matt Damon movie, the Green Zone is somewhat similar to his Bourne series of films. This movie is action packed just like the Bourne movies but instead of a spy thriller, it is a war drama. It’s set in 2003 and Damon and his team are searching for WMDs weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. This films name refers to the area set up around the government grounds of the one time leader of the people of Iraq, Saddam Hussein’s palace also known as the Emerald City.
This movie came from a book written by a Washington Post Baghdad Bureau chief, who was stationed briefly in Iraq, Rajiv Chandrasekaran. The author was present when the American forces were attempting to set up a temporary government of American troupes on the grounds of Hussein’s former palace. Many critics say this new governing body was built in a bubble and so distant from the reality that was the Iraq War; it could do nothing but fail to meet the needs and desperate wants of the people in that country.
Taking so much of the truth and stretching it until it become fiction is what director Paul Greengrass and screenwriter Brian Helgeland did with Chandrasekaran’s book. They used it as a starting point for the actual US led occupation of Bagdad to begin their movie. Greengrass was the director for United 93 about the plane crash in Pennsylvania on 9-11. This movie has Damon’s character linking up with a CIA agent, Brendon Gleeson of the popular Beowulf and In Burges, in order to search for evidence that the Iraq people or government, or both, are hiding WMDs. A senior CIA bureau member, Gleeson’s character and Damon’s character, an officer, can only help each other so much.
Amy Ryan of Gone Baby Gone and the Office is cast as a foreign correspondent form the New York Times who has journeyed to Iraq to investigate the allegations from the US about the weapons of mass destruction. Another special appearance is made by Greg Kinnear, of The Last Song, as another special CIA agent but is trying to make the story a completely different one then what the reporter’s take on it is.
Damon’s character can only find out the source of Ryan’s information is Magellan and he hunts everywhere for the identity of this secret name. But Ryan is a true journalist and will not give up her source so it says as Magellan and the weapon’s of mass destructions remains a mystery. Damon’s character will even confront Ryan’s character about her sources but she holds fast to her journalistic convictions and will not reveal them. This only proves to thicken the plot.
Damon’s character is sent on a ‘wild goose chase’ as he searches for answers and comes up blank due to faulty Intel and covert operations he’s not privy to. There are many fight scenes in which Damon’s character is caught in the middle of gunfire from unknown sources and people from his own unit telling him to leave things alone. His character is a very determined solider and wants to do what’s right for the American people and the people of Iraq.
It becomes clear that Damon’s character’s quest for the truth is the most valuable weapon of all when he’s kidnapped and then escapes in a battle-royal against several men. What he finds out after this is that Kinnear’s character has been working against him and not with him. With this part cleared up, there are still several unanswered questions.
Many questions will be answered by the end of the film, such as will Damon’s character help a rouge regimen clear up their act or will the escalading violence continue to climb in such an unstable condition as to become a prelude to second movie? The Green Zone should be seen by everyone and anyone who enjoys suspense, war and intrigue in their movies. Director Greengrass is also the director of several of Damon’s Bourne movies; therefore audiences will not be disappointed.
The movie really was not that bad and the story line was interesting, for a creepy video game come to life! Watch Movie Online The strength of the relationships and the performances tend to develop a very loyal following for a show like Entourage. Scotts Patton or Denzels Malcolm X, but what do you expect from a horror movie’
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