This film was not appreciated when it was first released at the cinema.
"Green Zone" was killed by conservatives weeks before it was released in theaters in 2010. They flooded Message Boards in droves once conservative media alerted them about film. Their 'talking points' were that the film was only an attempt by Matt Damon to use the film to blame the Bush Administration for the Iraqi War. They said he should keep his mouth shut because nobody wanted to hear his bleeding-heart 'Liberal' lies about no weapons of mass destruction. They made it seem as if Matt Damon had written and directed the film himself and said it was filled with 'Liberal Hollywood Propaganda.' It wasn't pretty. They said they would never watch another one of his films again.
Hats off to them, because they effectively killed a good film featuring real marines (Iraqi war veterans made up Matt Damon's squad in the film) who added realism and gravitas.
The fact is that Damon only took the lead role in "Green Zone" as a favor to Director Paul Greengrass (who also directed the film "United 93," about the plane deliberately downed by passengers on 9/11 after they swarmed the terrorists). "Green Zone" was filmed over the summer of 2007 after "The Bourne Ultimatum" wrapped production (which Paul Greengrass also directed). Universal Studios shelved "Green Zone" (held it hostage) for three years in an attempt to get Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass to commit to another 'Bourne' film.
"Green Zone" was based upon the novel "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone" by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, who was an assistant managing editor of the Washington Post when the book was published in 2006. It was based upon his observations as the Washington Post's Bureau Chief in Baghdad from April 2003 - October 2004, covering the weapons-inspections process (which is what the Chief Warrant Officer played by Matt Damon did in the film), build-up to the conflict, and the American occupation.
Here is an interview conducted on September 18, 2006 with Mr. Chandrasekaran and the Washington Post about his novel and 'his' view that America missed an opportunity at the beginning of the conflict in Iraq:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/08/28/DI2 006082800508.html
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bwiseman49
9 years ago
The amazing truth vs. reality is shown by the review of the Wikipedia article on Ahmad Chalabi and his immediate rise to power following the invasion and the disillusionment by the US government after his untruthfulness was discovered. This coupled with the article on the journalist Judith Miller certainly shows the element of truth within the movie. Although it may be a political thriller, it would not stand as a great film were it not for this aspect of truth behind the reality of the invasion and WMDs.
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