A writer creates a few stock characters to tell people how much he hates the Iraq War. The heroic soldier who doggedly searches for the truth, the unscrupulous administration pogue who lies to start a war, the reporter who reports anything she’s given, an Iraqi metaphor character who takes control of his own destiny, a grizzled CIA operative who also likes truth and helps heroic soldier, and bad guy Iraqi general.
Paul Greengrass loves it! Camera shakes around, then there’s a few humvee chases. Matt Damon struggles to bad ass himself out of the incoherent plot line. After a few good fire fights Damon charges through Baghdad reprimanding the different institutions each character stands in for. “I know what you did!” he declares to the character who stands for the Bush Administration. “Let’s get the story right this time,” he instructs the journalist who stands for the entire media. Oh yeah, Abu Ghraib is in there somewhere too. Queue swelling music and humvees driving into the Iraqi sunset.
We will struggle to tell the story of the Iraq war for years to come. This kind of simplistic movie takes us backwards. Film makers, creating characters as personal mouthpieces is a sin.
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And so we witness the end.
10 years ago
2 comments:
Hmmm I was going to see this movie because I love all things Matt Damon. Am second guessing.
Also, I like this 200 word movie review idea. Short, sweet, to the point. Nice.
I actually find them much harder to write!
The catch is, I actually agree with the politics of the movie. But I just can't stand it when film makers treat characters like talking points. In effect they're also doing the audience a huge disservice. I'd be interested to hear from someone who liked the movie. As an action/thriller, it had its moments.
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