Set
in
Iraq
in
the
months
following
the
2003
invasion,
the
film
reunites
the
director
Paul
Greengrass
with
his
star
of
the
Bourne
series.
Damon
plays
an
army
warrant
officer
whose
WMD
sorties
keep
coming
up
empty;
unwilling
to
roll
over,
he"s
soon
embroiled
in
a
turf
war
between
the
CIA
and
the
Pentagon
(personified
by
conscientious
Brendan
Gleeson
and
oleaginous
Greg
Kinnear)
while
attempting
to
wrangle
a
Ba"athist
general
(Igal
Naor),
a
useful
veteran
(Said
Faraj)
and
a
useless
embedded
reporter
(Amy
Ryan)
against
a
backdrop
of
more-or-less
real
events.
The
movie
is
full
of
political
rhetoric
and
has
the
advantage
of
crystal
clear
hindsight.
It
force-feeds
mainstream
audiences
the
lies
about
the
weapons
of
mass
destruction
(WMDs)
that
triggered
the
war
and
the
elaborate
cover-up
of
the
truth.
The
title
refers
to
a
designated
secure
and
safe
area
that
includes
the
old
Republican
Palace
where
American
decision-makers
were
isolated
from
Baghdad"s
chaos
and
destruction.
Greengrass"s
approach
to
real-life
disaster
is
far
more
simplified
and
pumped
up
here
than
it
was
in
'United
93" or
'Bloody
Sunday",
but
there"s
much
to
be
said
for
his
'Bourne
in
Baghdad"
approach.
The
action
is
robust,
the
politics
simplified
but
strident,
insisting
that
a
wilfully
under-prepped
war
worked
against
both
US
and
Iraqi
interests.
The
screenplay,
written
by
prolific
veteran
Brian
Helgeland
(“L.A.
Confidential")
is
an
adaptation
of
Rajiv
Chandrasekaran"s
non-fiction
“Imperial
Life
in
the
Emerald
City," the
former
Washington
Post
Baghdad
bureau
chief"s
accounting
of
the
chaos
of
the
L.
Paul
Bremer
III-led
C.P.A.
Unsurprisingly,
the
picture
works
best
when
it
sticks
to
the
intricate
details
of
that
world
—
particularly
the
internal
sniping
between
the
different
bureaucratic
representatives
occupying
the
same
gargantuan
palace
—
and
the
contrast
between
the
symbols
of
wealth
and
ruin
abounding
therein.
Damon
is
easy
to
cheer
for
and
is
surrounded
by
good
actors,
including
a
CIA
officer
portrayed
by
the
always
reliable
Brendan
Gleeson
(28
Days
Later
and
the
Harry
Potter
series).
Green
Zone
continues
Greengrass
and
Damon"s
collaboration
on
making
action
films
for
the
'thinking
person".
This
time
they
are
also
using
the
action
genre
to
set
the
record
straight
by
reminding
audiences
that
despite
the
rhetoric
that
has
since
come
out,
the
rationale
behind
invading
Iraq
was
based
on
highly
dubious
information
that
Iraq
was
stockpiling
WMDs.
Producer:
Tim
Bevan,
Eric
Fellner,
Lloyd
Levin
and
Paul
Greengrass