Green Zone

Green Zone is the story of the Iraq War through the eyes of one of its soldiers. Roy Miller (Damon) has been following orders, going to the zones which he is told contain weapons of mass destruction, yet on every search conducted by his team he finds nothing.

Determined to get to the bottom of the problem, Miller starts talking to Marty (Gleeson), a member of the FBI who has lived in Iraq for many years. Marty knows the Iraqi people and believes that the premise on which war has been waged is false, but no one believes him. Miller’s direct honesty about his doubts leads to difficulties with Poundstone (Kinnear), the man heading up the investigation in Iraq and the military spokesperson on the television telling the world the ‘truth’ about the war.

On one of his ordered searches, Miller finds a local called Freddy who is willing to help him with his investigations. Freddy has information about the location of General Al Rawi, an important player known as ‘the jack of spades’. Freddy goes along with Miller as his interpreter. Gradually Miller starts to move away from the military’s orders to search for the truth behind the invasion.

This story is a conspiracy theorist’s dream, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not enjoyable to people unconvinced by political paranoia. There are some great action sequences and the unwieldy camera work helps to create atmosphere, allowing the viewer to feel like they are standing alongside the characters. The only downside to this film is that Jason Isaacs’s role is very minor; there are several opportunities to extend his role as one of Poundstone’s men that are missed. Damon’s performance is reasonable but not special, but he does nothing to spoil the carefully created atmosphere of conspiracy.

Angharad le Duc