Friday, August 13, 2010

Non-Fiction Book Comes To Life In Green Zone

By Jeanie Guy

Matt Damon is the star of this action packed war drama and it is similar to the Bourne movies he's famous for. The Green Zone is a war drama with some thrilling moments added in and the Bourne movies were all drama and spy thrillers with some action added. This movie is set back in 2003 and Damon's character and his team of army officers are looking for the elusive WMS's, weapons of mass destructions in Iraq. This title is referring to the perimeter known as the former leader, Saddam Hussein's Palace, often called the Emerald City, where the government grounds were set up.

Washington Post chief correspondent, onetime only, Rajiv Chandrasekaran penned a book by the same name and this movie is loosely based on that book. Chandrasekaran was witness to the American troupes as they attempted to put in a temporary government for the people of Iraq on the grounds of Hussein's crumbling palace. Unfortunately, critics have said that this new government was built in a bubble, far from the actual needs of the Iraq War and this could only mean failure. They were not meeting the needs of the people that needed to be served in the country, something many believed the US did not want.

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.

Rounding out the all-star cast is Greg Kennear of the Last Song and Amy Ryan of Gone Baby Gone and the Office. Ryan portrays a foreign correspondent from the New York Times who has traveled to Iraq to dispute accusations about the weapons of mass destructions against the US. Kennear's characters is another CIA agent who desperately wants to get Damon's character out of his hair and keep spinning this situation in good light, no matter the truth.

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 does not give up and keeps going even though he is being feed faulty Intel and someone is playing with covert operations. Damon's character will come up empty handed, time and time again. There seems to be so much information out there that Damon's character is not allowed to see and sometimes, when he gets close, he also gets caught in a gun battle only to fight his way out. Even people in his own unit are telling him to let it go. Damon's a good solider and determined to do the right thing for America and the people of Iraq so he carries on.

The quest for the truth has become the most valuable weapon in Damon's character's arsenal of tricks. He is kidnapped and in a fight to the finish, escapes to discover that Kinnear's character have been working against him and not with him. After this scene, there are still many unanswered questions that leave audiences on the edge of their seats.

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. - 40730

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