By now it’s fair to say the current War on Terror hasn’t quite turned out like anyone thought, especially those in the government.

As the war has raged on the last seven years, more and more films have tackled the campaign and ancillary events to the campaign. Those films have generally fallen into two categories — political films that paint a largely negative picture of the current campaign and soldier stories.

This year’s Best Picture winner, “The Hurt Locker,” falls into the latter category. It isn’t as much concerned with the political motivations surrounding the war in Iraq as it is with the human toll. The latest Iraq-war-themed release, “Green Zone,” is more of a political assault guised as a story about soldiers on the front line.

The film centers on Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon), who travels through Iraq with his unit searching for weapons of mass destruction — WMDs — during the early days of the conflict. The problem is, his unit keeps coming up empty and Miller wants to know why.

Miller questions the intelligence used to determine WMD sites. He pushes his commanders for more details and is told to do his job and trust the intelligence. Miller, ever the dutiful soldier, wants to do just that, until a CIA operative, Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson), tells him otherwise.

Complicating matters, while Miller is out with his unit they stumble upon a meeting of Bath party officials, including Gen. Al Rawi (Yigal Naor). Members of the intelligence unit quickly arrive on scene to snatch up evidence and bring it back to the ranking government official, Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear). But Miller holds back what he’s got and takes it to Brown instead.

Brown provides new information and sets Miller and his unit on a new mission to capture Al Rawi alive and learn the truth. That proves harder than anticipated as the climate on the ground begins to change radically.

An investigative reporter, Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan), also begins to cast doubt on the reports of WMDs and the covert intelligence source that supplied the information. As Miller doggedly pursues the answers he uncovers the truth, shattering his view of the military and its mission in Iraq.

“Green Zone” isn’t an overly preachy film, but it seems disingenuous to have this kind of story told with Damon in the lead role. Damon is a great actor and he plays Miller well, from the action sequences to the more dramatic moments. But given his outspoken political views, it’s hard to see a movie like this with him in the lead role and not think it’s meant as a condemnation of the last administration.



For the complete article see the 03-19-2010 issue.

Click here to purchase an electronic version of the 03-19-2010 paper.

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