Green Zone
Rent & Buy
During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his team of Army inspectors are dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that threatens to invert the purpose of their mission.
What critics thought
Greengrass's kinetic filmmaking style earns divided reactions when applied to this Iraq War thriller: admirers find it as viscerally effective as his best work, while detractors argue that the docu-realism aesthetic sits uneasily alongside a script too certain of its own conspiracy and too fond of a lone-hero fantasy. The performances and political ambition draw genuine praise, but the simplification of complex moral terrain is a recurring complaint.
“There is a murky morality in the whole sorry saga of Iraq. Some of the motivation is money, some of it is a genuine—if confused—desire for good. Reel can't quite match real in portraying this aspect, but Green Zone will nevertheless provoke thoughts as well as thrills—it's an honest, compelling, smart blockbuster that dares to deliver on several levels.”
Mark Dinning·Empire
“if Green Zone were an exercise in bubble-gum pop, I would have chewed happily. But it is Greengrass's insistence on making the thing look and feel authentic that made it all the more unbelievable.”
Ilana Ozernoy·Newsweek
“If tremulous 100-yard-dash camerawork is Greengrass's voice, this sort of movie might not be the song for him. Helgeland's script doesn't just suspect conspiracy. It's certain there is corruption. And righteousness doesn't suit the illusory objectivity of the director's docu-realism.”
Wesley Morris·The Boston Globe
“the most rewarding aspect of Green Zone is the manner in which it interweaves fact and fiction into an engaging whole.”
ReelViews
“with all we retrospectively know about the wool-pulling to make the case for war, it's a kick to follow a main character on the ground who smells a rat”
Tim Robey·The Daily Telegraph
Genres
War, Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Paul GreengrassDirector
Matt DamonRoy Miller
Greg KinnearClark Poundstone
Brendan GleesonMartin Brown
Amy RyanLawrie Dayne
Khalid AbdallaFreddy
Jason IsaacsMaj. Briggs
Igal NaorGeneral Al Rawi
Said FarajSeyyed Hamza
Raad RawiAhmed Zubaidi
Michael O'NeillColonel Bethel
Tommy CampbellChopper Comms Commander
Antoni CoroneCol. Lyons
John PowellComposer
Brian HelgelandWriter
Barry AckroydCinematographyGreen Zone
During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his team of Army inspectors are dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that threatens to invert the purpose of their mission.
What critics thought
Greengrass's kinetic filmmaking style earns divided reactions when applied to this Iraq War thriller: admirers find it as viscerally effective as his best work, while detractors argue that the docu-realism aesthetic sits uneasily alongside a script too certain of its own conspiracy and too fond of a lone-hero fantasy. The performances and political ambition draw genuine praise, but the simplification of complex moral terrain is a recurring complaint.
“There is a murky morality in the whole sorry saga of Iraq. Some of the motivation is money, some of it is a genuine—if confused—desire for good. Reel can't quite match real in portraying this aspect, but Green Zone will nevertheless provoke thoughts as well as thrills—it's an honest, compelling, smart blockbuster that dares to deliver on several levels.”
Mark Dinning·Empire
“if Green Zone were an exercise in bubble-gum pop, I would have chewed happily. But it is Greengrass's insistence on making the thing look and feel authentic that made it all the more unbelievable.”
Ilana Ozernoy·Newsweek
“If tremulous 100-yard-dash camerawork is Greengrass's voice, this sort of movie might not be the song for him. Helgeland's script doesn't just suspect conspiracy. It's certain there is corruption. And righteousness doesn't suit the illusory objectivity of the director's docu-realism.”
Wesley Morris·The Boston Globe
“the most rewarding aspect of Green Zone is the manner in which it interweaves fact and fiction into an engaging whole.”
ReelViews
“with all we retrospectively know about the wool-pulling to make the case for war, it's a kick to follow a main character on the ground who smells a rat”
Tim Robey·The Daily Telegraph
Genres
War, Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Cast & Crew
Paul GreengrassDirectorMatt DamonRoy MillerGreg KinnearClark PoundstoneBrendan GleesonMartin BrownAmy RyanLawrie DayneKhalid AbdallaFreddyJason IsaacsMaj. BriggsIgal NaorGeneral Al RawiSaid FarajSeyyed HamzaRaad RawiAhmed ZubaidiMichael O'NeillColonel BethelTommy CampbellChopper Comms CommanderAntoni CoroneCol. LyonsJohn PowellComposerBrian HelgelandWriterBarry AckroydCinematographyRent & Buy