Rated R – 1h55 -

It looks and feels a lot like Matt Damon in the Bourne Identity but this has a more serious tone. It’s part military action thriller, part expose of what went wrong with the Iraq war.

Green Zone follows mid-level US Soldier Roy Miller (Damon) whose job is to track down weapons of mass destruction in 2003 Iraq. He’s notably frustrated, because he’s not finding any and believes that he’s being given bad intelligence. What he’s unsure of is where that bad intelligence is coming from; us or them.

I think Director Paul Greengrass, who did the Bourne Identity movies, was trying to walk the line between fiction and fact. There are obvious realisms about the film. It even includes President Bush’s infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech. Still this isn’t a documentary. It’s more a hybrid doc-like thriller.

Green Zone really pinpoints whose to blame for the phony intelligence (neocons who wanted the war,) but also hands out finger waggings to the press and the CIA while still depicting the US military as just and right.

There are scenes that are meant to shock you and show the disconnect between the job that the military was trying to do, and the suits calling the shots. At one point, Miller trudges into Saddam’s Republican Palace moments after risking life and limb, chasing a suspect through the gritty streets of Baghdad. He finds something like Club Med, where people are eating pizza and drinking beer pool side, while hip hop music plays in the background.

I think whether you choose to agree with the real world evidence that’s come to light about the seemingly fabricated reasons why went to war in Iraq will be a determining factor in whether you like this one. Your politics are put to the test, but if you can get around that, you’ll get a pretty good thriller.