NMR: Green Zone

I'm finally starting to play catch up with all the spring movies that have come out on DVD. This one starred Matt Damon in yet another collaboration with director Paul Greengrass. Unfortunately, this one does not yield as good of a film as their previous efforts together in the Bourne franchise. The biggest problem with this film is that it can't figure out whether it wants to be a realistic depiction of the events that have taken place during this second Gulf War or if it simply wants to be 'Bourne goes to war'. It makes a political stance about the lack of WMDs in Iraq and the error in going to war for insufficient reasons, but yet it doesn't really reference any actual figures involved with the war. What we're left with is a mix of sermonizing and shaky cam action scenes. Having said all that, this is not necessarily a bad film. Damon and Greengrass are both skilled enough at what they do to make this an enjoyable ride. Most will also agree with the message of the film, even if they didn't do a decent job supporting it. There have been a lot of bad movies made about the Iraq war, but this isn't one of them. So while it's somewhat disappointing, it's a better choice than most of the ones out there. Rating: ****