Green Zone (Paul Greengrass 2010)

It was something to look forward to: Paul Greengrass has delivered a number of remarkable films over the last years, showing that he can give a certain intimacy to situations of action and peril. Most recently in United 51 and the Bourne movies, he found the perfect balance, following the story and finding the right intensity of expression.

Green Zone, for me, was out of balance. A combination of conspiracy thriller, pseudo documentary style, and war movie, I never felt really at home here. There are no weapons of mass destruction, still they have to look for them? Ok, but we heard that story for many years. Maybe it should not have been the driving force behind the film. The book that apparently inspired the film also takes a completely different approach: what I remember from the book is that some interns and ignorants, together with a small group of enthusiastic regional and subject experts, were tasked by a foreign government to rebuild a whole country, including government, infrastructure and economy. I thought that would have made a great thriller, without a combat unit in the center of attention. I suppose that after the “Informant” experiences, they did not want to put Matt Damon into the position of an office worker again. Thanks for that, anyway.

Highlights: Brendan Gleeson, one of my favourite guys since “In Bruges” (and a nice Mad Eye Moody, too). And hello to Jason Isaacs… had I not known it was him…

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100310/REVIEWS/100319990/1023

Green Zone Movie Reviews, Pictures – Rotten Tomatoes.