Jason Isaacs is going to recapture his Black Hawk Down magic as a US military officer in Paul Greengrass’ untitled Iraq War movie, currently shooting in Spain. The actor is the latest in a series of good names added to the movie, which of course begins with Matt Damon and includes the likes of Oscar nominees Amy Ryan and Greg Kinnear.
Greengrass’ movie is loosely based on the excellent book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Baghdad’s Green Zone by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, a look at how badly the US blundered the post-invasion rebuilding of Iraq. The book is a sprawling piece of reporting without a narrative throughline, and Greengrass’ film, with a script by Brian Helgeland, will only use it as a touchstone and a source of incident and background.
I’m excited for this film, and I wonder if the Bourne combo of Damon and Greengrass can escape the curse of disinterest that the American film audience has for Iraq War movies. Here’s hoping.