---

Green zone

****

Stars: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan

Director: Paul Greengrass

Rated: R

Showing: Speciality Cinema

Runtime: 114 minutes

Action/drama/war

Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum director Paul Greengrass delivers a damning and all-action critique of the false premise upon which the Bush administration based its invasion of Iraq.

It is inspired by the 2006 best-seller Imperial Life In The Emerald City by Washington Post journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran, which documented life in Baghdad's green zone, including the Americans' blinkered idealism and arrogant cluelessness.

The story, set in the wake of America's infamous 'shock and awe' campaign, follows army chief warrant officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon), a man with one mission - find the weapons of mass destruction the U.S. government is convinced Saddam Hussein has hidden in various sites across Iraq.

But when every site turns out to be empty, Miller suspects their intelligence is wrong - but Pentagon hotshot Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) refuses to listen.

The administration's certainty about WMDs is also backed up by articles by reporter Lawrie Dayne (Amy Ryan), who has intelligence from a confidential source known only as Magellan.

But Miller goes rogue to track down the mysterious Magellan and expose the faulty intelligence before the war escalates.

Greengrass keeps the film moving at a rapid pace and the action count is high with exceptional battle footage.

There are stunning panoramic shots of Baghdad under siege plus detailed and realistic recreations of the city and Saddam's palace, despite the movie being shot in Spain, Morocco and the U.K.

Damon's character is a solid, likeable action hero although he does get a little too Jason Bourne in the second half.

Watch if you liked: The Hurt Locker, Bourne Supremacy.

For more information about film times, call 292-2135.

[[In-content Ad]]

---