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March 11, 2010

Movie Guy “Green” with anticipation, and dread

Sean McBride The Port Arthur News

As a big fan of Matt Damon and his Jason Bourne series, I approached the actor’s latest film, “The Green Zone,” with a mixture of anticipation and dread. I was looking forward to this film that all but cries out to be seen as Jason Bourne in Iraq, but without a Robert Ludlum novel as a template, I feared for the worst.

“Green Zone” isn’t the worst, but it’s not exactly an action masterpiece either, landing somewhere in the movie-middle. Damon stars as Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller. He’s tasked with finding stockpiles of Iraqi weapons during the early days of the war. Miller’s search keeps coming up empty, which causes him to start to question his intelligence sources.

The film quickly turns into a conspiracy thriller, with our hero soldier doggedly pursuing the truth about WMDs in Iraq, while the Pentagon, CIA and even Wall Street Journal reporters seem to be misleading him. What are they trying to hide? What’s their agenda?

What’s the point?

“Green Zone” is a fiction film that wants to make a non-fiction political statement about how/why America went to war in Iraq. The problem is that the film’s propaganda seems a bit old hat by now. Anyone who watches the news can probably guess where the story is headed, and the supporting cast isn’t much more original. From the journalist who’s not very good at her job (Amy Ryan) to the Pentagon official who might be a sleazy warmonger (Greg Kinnear) the film is replete with characters that seem to have come straight out of central casting.

Which leaves us with the action, which is exciting enough, but it’s unfocused and, to be honest, Greengrass’ documentary filmmaking style is wearing a bit thin as well. The shaky camera and unfocused footage is fine in moderation, but somebody needs to tell the director to put his camera on a tripod from time to time, just so the audience can figure out what’s going on.

That might sound a bit harsh, particularly as I am a fan of Greengrass’ filmmaking abilities, and think that Damon makes for a very engaging hero. “Green Zone” does have its edge-of-your-seat moments and it’s certainly not an outright bomb, but it’s all in service to a story that strains credulity and seems derivative of a handful of other, better films.

Simply put: This ain’t “Bourne IV.”

 

Movie reviews by Sean, “The Movie Guy,” are published bi-weekly in “The Port Arthur News” and seen weekly on KFDM-TV. Sean welcomes your comments via email at smcbride@kbcitv.com.

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