The search for truth in Iraq is fevered, often scrutinised to the extent that it is prioritised over current affairs. After seven years of prolonged hostilities, and no ‘weapons of mass destruction’ retrieved, a question remains unanswered. Why?
Set in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, is head of a unit charged with finding WMD’s in Baghdad, as alleged sites come up empty, he suspects flawed intelligence. With his concerns flatly shot down, and stalling tactics by the Pentagon, Miller goes rebel in an attempt to source the intelligence’s origin. But, the further he advances down the political trail, the more tangled the truth becomes.
The screenplay penned by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential and Mystic River), is inspired by non-fiction release ‘Imperial Life in the Emerald: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone’ by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran. Chandrasekaran, the former Baghdad bureau chief for The Washington Post, depicts the naivety of American judgement that led to the liberation of Iraq descending into chaos, calamity, and civil war. Helgeland’s Green Zone is structured as a conspiracy thriller, intersecting a fictionalised search for WMD intelligence, amid the civil, and political unrest towards rebuilding Iraq sourced from Chandrasekaran.
Green Zone thrusts the audience into the street-level chaos surrounding Baghdad, as the first wave of the ‘shock and awe’ bombing campaign begins. From the opening credits, there is no let up from director Paul Greengrass. Undoubtedly, at ease with his style of visceral immediacy created by hand-held cameras, whiplash editing, and his ‘put you in the action’ compositions. After all, it is this verisimilitude look he developed on the Bourne Supremacy, and Bourne Ultimatum, that has re-defined the action-thriller genre.
Matt Damon is perfectly cast as Miller, portraying a credible steely toughness, matched with a physical prowess honed during his previous roles as Jason Bourne. Still, it is the credibility that Damon delivers as a soldier endeavouring to do his duty, a patriot, struggling to comprehend the incompetence or deceit that surrounds him, that permits Damon to carry the film.
But, it is here, that the film loses integrity. With Miller off base, asserting an undeviating determinism to rebel against the orthodoxy of superiors, Green Zone shifts from political thriller, to a one-man against the world action-thriller, not dissimilar to his earlier Bourne outings.
On his search for answers, Damon interacts with a superb support cast. Amy Ryan, of The Wire and Gone Baby Gone, is disappointingly redundant as duped Wall Street Journal Foreign Correspondent, Lawrie Dayne. It is she who gives credence to WMD intelligence, but never commands the threat, or respect, that her position really should. Greg Kinnear delivers as untrustworthy Defence Intelligence agent, Clark Poundstone. Providing a very real, assured, wily politician who prioritises his own agenda above the casualties of war. Jason Isaac’s imposes himself as Briggs, a ‘friendly’ foe to Miller, despite his slight screen time. And Brendan Gleeson as Martin Brown, an old guard CIA operative, offers an insightful go between for Miller, and to the audience in terms of exposition that keep you on track with plot's development.
In its execution comparisons will, of course, be made to Green Zone and the Greengrass/Damon Bourne franchise. Indeed, their connection lies deeper than simply production team and style, with the themes of political deceit, corruption, and cover-ups transcending both films. But, with Bourne, an audience caught up with the amnesiac assassin, could subdue their receptiveness to these themes. By relocating to Baghdad, to a fresh scenario like the Iraqi war, it continuously stirs unease, raises questions to accountability, and criticises political decisions that have governed the progress of Iraq.
The flaw is that it is torn between credible political thriller, and a fast- paced action thriller. Cut together to make the message accessible for the masses, it sways from entertainment, to the exploration of the events early into the Iraq war. But, the balance is lost in the name of closure, it is a Hollywood blockbuster after all, as it teeters on edge of being Bourne in Baghdad in its finale.
Still, Green Zone is a non-stop politically charged ride, aiming for accessibility, it combines entertainment, and provocation of thought, confirming this genre belongs to Greengrass and Damon.
VERDICT:
***
The Princess And The Frog
Walt Disney classics are just that, defined by their place in a different generation, confined to history. Pixar, have stolen a march on the old master, creating the types of stories that a new Walt Disney generation must delve backwards to discover; The Jungle Book,Sleeping Beauty, and the Lion King are just three possible examples.
The Princess And The Frog
Walt Disney classics are just that, defined by their place in a different generation, confined to history. Pixar, have stolen a march on the old master, creating the types of stories that a new Walt Disney generation must delve backwards to discover; The Jungle Book,Sleeping Beauty, and the Lion King are just three possible examples.However, as The Princess and the Frog plays before your eyes, you would be forgiven in thinking that you had stepped back to the golden era of Disney. Legendary animation writer-directors Ron Clements and John Musker (The Little Mermaid and Aladdin) have delved into the richness of previous Disney’s releases to produce a fresh and vibrant old-fashioned fairy tale, but set in a modern mould. The aesthetics of the film are impeccable handled and beautifully envisioned using a combination of hand-drawn animation and digital polishing, to bring to life a contender to any other recent animated release.
It is New Orleans in the 1920’s, Prince Naveen has been turned into a frog; our heroine Tiana, believing a kiss would restore him to his stately figure, is also cursed. In order to find a cure, our now amphibious duo must journey through the swarming swamp to find a legendary voodoo witch Mama Odie.
Clements and Musker do not alienate Disney’s latest picture from the roots of instilled its creator. The customary staples are still present: we have our photogenic heroine, the handsome prince, the unsightly villains and even a fairy god mother, well, kind of. And not to mention the comic relieve in the form of imaginative excess: a large crocodile who desires nothing more than to plays Jazz.
Spectacle is added through the intersection of storyline and the accustomed song and dance fare. Randy Newman (Toy Story) provides a score that buoys the picture, flowing effortless complimenting, or even enhancing the film; ‘Friend’s on the Other Side’ is truly hallucinogenic. The mixture delivers a resounding endorsement to the Disney ‘brand’ of feature, still having a place amongst modern animated cinema.
But, it is the subtle differences embedded in The Princess and the Frog that allow it to stand up against its precedents.
For a start, in heroine Tiana (Dreamgirls’ Anika Noni Rose) we are led into acharacterisation of feminine determination and responsibility; a drive that sees’ her occupy two jobs simultaneously in order to achieve her ambition of opening a restaurant – does that sound like any Disney classic you’ve heard of? But it rings in true within the context of a modern audience. And the fact that Roses’ Tiana is the first portrayal of an African-American lead in a Disney feature should not be lost in translation. Change is signposted continually.
To emphasise this transition Tiana’s opposite, Prince Naveen, is handsome, loveable and utterly helpless; surviving off the name of a lost generation with no inclination to take responsibility himself. In this film the lead characters’ have flaws, with the themes of wealth and ambition countered with the importance of love and family; a staple that transcends the old, and the new generation Disney.
With the addition of delightfully crafted support characters, such as the air headed best-friend (Jennifer Cody), Louis the jazz playing alligator, Southern firefly (Jim Cummings), and the delightfully demonic Dr. Facilier (Keith David), a villainous foe worthy of any nightmare, what you are left with is The Princess and the Frog: the return of Disney.
The Princess and the Frog delivers; even it may not surpass the older generation classics. Still, it is a vast improvement on the recent output from Walt Disney, combining old staples with vibrancy and a modern re-imagining, to create a fresh enjoyable old-fashioned fairytale with heart.
Verdict:
****
