Starring: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan, Khalid Abdalla and Jason Isaacs.

Green Zone- definition The heavily guarded 10 square kilometre area of closed-off streets in central Baghdad where the US occupational authorities live and work. (Just thought you would like to know) If you have already seen the trailers for Green Zone, you may be forgiven for thinking “not another Iraq war movie” but this film slots into the ‘Thriller’ genre just as easy.

What we have here is an intelligent political thriller about weapons of mass destruction that could not have had more perfect timing in view of the current Iraq inquiry. And with Director Paul Greengrass at the helm you know that you can expect an action packed film that is also thought provoking. Greengrass brought us the last two Bourne instalments which gave the 007 series a run for its money. He’s also a good old local boy (he was born in Cheam, Surrey) and he certainly knows how to hold an audience.

Matt Damon is Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller who along with his team has been tasked with searching out likely WMD sites in locations pinpointed by the US intelligence network. In the opening scene we follow Miller as if we are one of his men through the use of a hand held camera (a Greengrass trademark) and each investigation is a life threatening routine. After a number of fruitless dead ends and no signs of any WMDs, Miller starts to question the accuracy of the information that they are being fed and has concerns for his men's safety after they encounter another wild goose chase.

Back in the Green Zone where the US Government are using the palace of former Iraq President Saddam Hussein as the centre piece for their operations. Miller expresses his views to Government Intelligence agent Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear) who pretty much tells him to stop moaning and just do his job. The only person willing to listen to Miller is CIA agent Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson) but his power there is being slowly suppressed. While out on another WMD investigation Miller is approached by an Iraq civilian called Freddy (Khalid Abdalla) who says that he has proof of a meeting taking place in the next street with high ranking Iraqi General Staff. It’s from this point that the story takes another turn and Miller is not only up against Iraqi warfare but also his own people including a Special Forces operative Briggs (nicely played by Jason Isaacs) who reports directly to Poundstone.

Matt Damon carries this film well and dominates every scene. Greg Kinnear shows that he can do slime balls as well as he handles comedy. Brendan Gleeson (who seems to be never out of work these days, is there an action epic that he doesn’t appear in?) is as solid as ever but I do think the Jason Isaacs character is a bit underdeveloped there seemed to be more potential to build on as Matt Damon’s nemesis.

Although this is all fiction it is still a case of ‘Art imitates Life’. Were there ever any WMDs at all?

I give it 4 stars.