Green Zone

Frustratingly uneven, Green Zone follows an American soldier (Matt Damon’s Roy Miller) as he attempts to expose a cover-up relating to the search of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq – with his efforts consistently stymied by a host of outside factors (including Greg Kinnear’s smarmy Clark Poundstone and Jason Isaacs’ tough-as-nails Briggs). There’s little doubt that Green Zone gets off to a near disastrous start, as screenwriter Brian Helgeland’s decision to emphasize the political aspects of the story holds the viewer at arm’s length for much of the film’s opening half hour – with the decidedly far-from-enthralling atmosphere persisting right up until Miller’s raid on a suspected terrorist’s house. It’s a riveting and thoroughly exciting sequence that effectively sets the stage for an unexpectedly compelling midsection, and there’s little doubt that Damon’s impressively authentic performance (ie he really does come off as world-weary, grizzled soldier) plays a substantial role in the film’s admittedly abrupt turnabout. Unfortunately, Green Zone demonstrably runs out of steam as it heads into its final stretch – as Greengrass blankets the proceedings in a pervasive darkness that’s exacerbated by his notoriously jittery directorial style. The suspense that Greengrass is clearly attempting to generate during the film’s third act is consequently non-existent, and it’s ultimately difficult to recall a contemporary action flick that wears out its welcome as firmly and as disappointingly as Green Zone.

** out of ****