I don't write many reviews for movies, but this one just had to be done. Me & Orson Welles was a crazy, hip, and exciting film that brought me everything you'd want in a movie: good acting, an interesting and original script, and a fantastic score. All of the cast delivered: having Christian McKay in the film was an especially delicious treat; it brought a completely different and unusual kind of acting - theater acting - to a Hollywood movie. McKay's eccentric performance livened the set up and kept me energetic and enthusiastic throughout. It was nice to see Zac Efron put his hands to something more intellectual than his usual roles. His acting was solid, but when he spoke, that "american teenager" that we're all used to shone through, and when he sang, all that you could think of was High School Musical 7. However, as I said, I have developed a lot of respect for him because of this movie, and if he continues to take such challenges on, he could be a great actor one day. Claire Danes played the quirky Sonja well, albeit a bit two-dimensionally. Leo Bill and Ben Chaplin were, to me, the only other notable performances, and notable performances they were. I greatly enjoyed the soundtrack and the other 'period-piece' aspects of the movie were interesting and pleasant. It's interesting and in many ways ironic to portray theater in cinema, and I really enjoyed being pulled into the storyline of the theater production within the movie than the storyline of the movie itself for a moment! However, what I enjoyed most about the movie, is it's, (perhaps) philosophical point: Efron's struggle to find a balance between morals and reality really hit home for me, and the way things turned out were something that you don't often see in movies. Issues such as how to deal with friends who seemingly betray you, but in fact only attempt to survive themselves in a tough world, how to deal with love that's not returned, how to move on even though the "war" seems unfinished: all of these topics were something that I, personally, have not seen often explored in cinema, though I certainly would like to, having needed to deal with them myself many a time. I think that this movie would be enjoyable for anyone who's got a curious, appreciating, jolly, nostalgic, mind and especially for those - as it was for me - who find it hard to deal with the problems I listed above. The movie was not very ambitious, loud, or creative, and for that I automatically cannot give it a 10 or even a 9. But for everything else that counts, it receives a hearty and thankful 8.
Reviews
2 Reviews
Green Zone
(2010)
Unexpectedly good in an unexpected way.
20 March 2010
Feel like seeing an action flick, watching bodies fly everywhere, and good guys kill bad guys? Do not see this movie.
Green Zone was a very surprising experience for me. I was on the way to the cinema expecting, as several posters quoted, 'Born goes epic'. Instead, I got a nice combination of politics, moral dilemmas, and maybe even some very light philosophy.
The film takes a popular, but still a controversial & for many people shameful, view on the Iraq war. The plot is complex but relatively easy to follow thanks to a(sometimes too) straight-forward set up, good directing, and sensible scene sequences. The plot does not bring you any traditional action flick twists and rarely pushes you to the edge of the seat, but makes up for it by making you think about some of the more real and worrying aspects of war and politics. The characters could have used some more development and dynamic, but on the bright side it was nice to not have every single thing rotate around Bourne. On the contrary, throughout the whole movie the focus was on a wider picture rather than on any of the more specific details in the story itself. It was nice to see the lines between bad & good drawn in such a blurry manner. I was confused and indecisive in labelling characters as on the goody or the baddie side. The plot had an interesting ending, slightly ruined by a cheesy line from one of the characters, but brilliantly made up for by a fantastic scene of Baghdad at night. I found that whilst the epilogue of the movie was needed to explain consequences, something like a few sentences appearing on a black screen would have finished the movie in a much nicer mood than that in which it finished in reality. The plot took up an intellectual viewpoint on the Iraq war and gave me something to think about on the subject of both the Iraq war and the idea of war in general. This was something that you rarely see in movies like this, and made the movie the enjoyable experience that it is.
The directing & cinematography in the movie were nothing special. Several style ideas were re-used from the Bourne movies, and action was not always as gripping as one might want, or at least expect. However, it was never bad either - all sequences kept a consistent standard of dialogue, special effects, and the little action that there was.
The acting in the movie was one of the few things that I expected. Matt Damon delivered his usual performance: a cool, in-control soldier committed to get to the bottom of things. The supporting actors all delivered their parts well enough, with Greg Kinnear holding his usual cunning, conniving, corrupt, money-thirsty politician role. However, because, as mentioned before, the film focused on a wider picture, the acting did not put me off the movie in any way whatsoever. The one other thing which the movie lacked almost entirely throughout was humour. It's always nice to get a giggle in between moral implications and people dying all over the place.
I have given the movie 7 out of 10 in total, with seven points for wider plot depth, intellectual aspects, directing & cinematography, CGI & special effects, and the last three points deduced for acting, immediate plot depth, action sequences, and humour, or rather the lack of it. It's a pleasant and original surprise, and something that will make you think after leaving the cinema.
MK
Green Zone was a very surprising experience for me. I was on the way to the cinema expecting, as several posters quoted, 'Born goes epic'. Instead, I got a nice combination of politics, moral dilemmas, and maybe even some very light philosophy.
The film takes a popular, but still a controversial & for many people shameful, view on the Iraq war. The plot is complex but relatively easy to follow thanks to a(sometimes too) straight-forward set up, good directing, and sensible scene sequences. The plot does not bring you any traditional action flick twists and rarely pushes you to the edge of the seat, but makes up for it by making you think about some of the more real and worrying aspects of war and politics. The characters could have used some more development and dynamic, but on the bright side it was nice to not have every single thing rotate around Bourne. On the contrary, throughout the whole movie the focus was on a wider picture rather than on any of the more specific details in the story itself. It was nice to see the lines between bad & good drawn in such a blurry manner. I was confused and indecisive in labelling characters as on the goody or the baddie side. The plot had an interesting ending, slightly ruined by a cheesy line from one of the characters, but brilliantly made up for by a fantastic scene of Baghdad at night. I found that whilst the epilogue of the movie was needed to explain consequences, something like a few sentences appearing on a black screen would have finished the movie in a much nicer mood than that in which it finished in reality. The plot took up an intellectual viewpoint on the Iraq war and gave me something to think about on the subject of both the Iraq war and the idea of war in general. This was something that you rarely see in movies like this, and made the movie the enjoyable experience that it is.
The directing & cinematography in the movie were nothing special. Several style ideas were re-used from the Bourne movies, and action was not always as gripping as one might want, or at least expect. However, it was never bad either - all sequences kept a consistent standard of dialogue, special effects, and the little action that there was.
The acting in the movie was one of the few things that I expected. Matt Damon delivered his usual performance: a cool, in-control soldier committed to get to the bottom of things. The supporting actors all delivered their parts well enough, with Greg Kinnear holding his usual cunning, conniving, corrupt, money-thirsty politician role. However, because, as mentioned before, the film focused on a wider picture, the acting did not put me off the movie in any way whatsoever. The one other thing which the movie lacked almost entirely throughout was humour. It's always nice to get a giggle in between moral implications and people dying all over the place.
I have given the movie 7 out of 10 in total, with seven points for wider plot depth, intellectual aspects, directing & cinematography, CGI & special effects, and the last three points deduced for acting, immediate plot depth, action sequences, and humour, or rather the lack of it. It's a pleasant and original surprise, and something that will make you think after leaving the cinema.
MK
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