Green Zone

Director Paul Greengrass attempts to overcompensate for his unthinkably flat 2006 propaganda piece United 93 with a shaky-cam Iraq war picture. Carrying the moldy message that nonexistent "weapons of mass destruction" were a manufactured excuse for the war, Greengrass misses no opportunity to rattle his camera so that the story never has a chance to breathe. Without scratching the surface of the Bush administration's intended purpose of permanently robbing Iraq its oil resources, the Baghdad-set action (circa 2003) hits the ground running as one very long and overplayed chase sequence. Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon) is fed up with leading his team of Army inspectors on fruitless missions to uncover WMD due to faulty intel. Greg Kinnear plays Pentagon baddie intelligence operative Clark Poundstone, whose shite-eating-grin matches George Bush Junior's smug expression when he announces "mission accomplished" on a Republican Palace (a.k.a. Green Zone) cafeteria television. Back-slapping soldiers approve of Bush's brief victory lap from the safety of their cushy protected Iraq home. If they only knew then what we know now. Oh wait, they did know then.

(Universal Pictures) Rated R for violence and language. 115 mins. (C-) (Two Stars)