** out of ****
Directed by: Paul Greengrass
Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan, Brendan Gleeson and Jason Isaacs
Running time: 114 minutes
Four springs ago, Paul Greengrass released the superb and relentlessly gripping United 93. Despite mighty acclaim, the film earned a modest box office take: many simply thought it was too soon for a 9/11 film.
His latest feature, Green Zone, is not selling many tickets either. Even though some could mistake it as a sequel of sorts with its post-9/11 setting, the feeling is contrary to his earlier masterpiece – and probably the reason its box office is not igniting. It’s just too little, too late.
Matt Damon reunites with Greengrass, his collaborator on the final two Jason Bourne films. Here, he plays the truth-seeking Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller.
Miller intends to find weapons of mass destruction that are allegedly stockpiled in warehouses across Baghdad. But within weeks of the US invasion, three of his raids have curiously come up empty.
His superiors report that their intelligence, according to the Pentagon and a high-ranking official named Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear), is accurate. When Miller questions the integrity of this information, his doubts go ignored.
That is, with the exception of a tactful CIA honcho and Middle East specialist (Brendan Gleeson), as well as a suspicious journalist (Gone Baby Gone’s Amy Ryan), whose information regarding the WMDs was initially given credence by the American press.
Both are scrutinizing the situation, and suspect that Miller’s theories have more traction than what the authorities accept.
Green Zone simply doesn’t work as a dramatization of the American insurgency; surprisingly, it’s inspired by a lauded non-fiction book, titled Imperial Life in the Emerald City.
Whereas his earlier pictures, Bloody Sunday and United 93, were thrillers that contained known people, events and situations, every major character and sequence in Greengrass's latest is purely fictional.
That wouldn’t be a bother if the characters weren’t pale variations of those from better political dramas and war thrillers. They are, especially Greg Kinnear's slimy suit of a villain and the rugged, tyrannical Special Forces officer portrayed by Jason Issacs.
Still, Damon does a certifiable job here, and commands the screen well. Unfortunately, his character was composed as a baby-faced Jack Bauer without the flaws, bloodthirsty edge or kinetic energy.
Not that the film lags in caffeinated camera-work and crisp cutting – this is a Paul Greengrass film! We expect the shaky, hand-held cinematography (not recommended for pregnant women or motion-sickness sufferers) and hyperactive editing that upped the pulse on his earlier Bourne installments.
This approach is done for realism’s sake, and works well, letting the audience hang on for dear life within the intense (and excellent) action sequences.
But Green Zone’s strongly liberal depiction of post-invasion Iraq is overly, and regrettably, simplistic.
It’s known that the War was an intelligence failure and a disaster that vilified America's reputation.
But if the film had managed to inject some fierce insights – from liberal and conservative points of view, and both American and Iraqi perspectives – into life during wartime, we may have compelling subject matter on our hands.
Green Zone could have broadened its storytelling horizons, trimmed its political subjectivity and captured our attention with vivid characters and situations.
But the story's watered-down elements slacken the surprise and high-octane thrills. Green Zone also fails to provoke the same diplomatic arguments that fueled many documentaries on the subject, such as 2007’s award-winning No End in Sight.
Its familiarity is easy for a mainstream studio to sell but more difficult to engage an audience, especially an informed and intelligent one. Like the raids conducted at the beginning of the film, Green Zone comes up surprisingly empty.
No comments:
Post a Comment