[Quick Summary: When efforts to uncover evidence of weapons of mass destruction are thwarted, a US Army officer smells something fishy and goes rogue.]
Any time Ebert's review says, "[T]his is one hell of a thriller," I pay attention.
One of the things the script does well is reduce an intimidating, complicated larger story (WMD) into a manageable personal one.
Also, the character is interesting. Miller is a guy who does not like to be played. He's told to find X, but when he arrives someone else is already there taking X.
So what does he do in this lawless land? He goes against his law abiding habits and does something radical, like taking a body out of a morgue - as leverage.
INT. MORGUE - CAMP CROPPER - DAY
...They fan out, begin lifting tarps, unzipping body bags, rolling a few FACE-DOWNS over.
Potts trips over a leg. Fuck! That creeps them out.
Miller crouches down, unzips a bodybag. Some OLD MAN. Another: a guy with a beard. He takes a step to another, unzips...Jackpot. There's the GENERAL, a dark bruised crease across his forehead.
MILLER (CONT'D): Sonuvabitch.
The guys crowd around, look over the top of Miller.
MILLER (CONT'D): I mean sonuvabitch! This guy knew.
PERRY: Not anymore...
Another thought hits Miller. Urgent. He zips the bag.
MILLER: Let's get him out of here.
POTTS: What?
MICHAELS: Chief, you okay?
MILLER: I'll explain later. Let's get him out. Before they come back down.
Miller grabs a corner of the bag. A beat and they move to help. As they start hauling the body bag of there...
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: "Going rogue" is a discrepancy in the usual behavior.
It assumes: a) you've established a pattern of previous behavior, and b) a discrepancy which is big and significant for the character, but not necessarily big like an explosion.
Green Zone (2010)(undated)*
by Brian Helgeland
Based on "Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone," by Rajiv Chandrasekaran
*The cover page of this undated draft says "by Paul Greengrass" (director). Thus, I am not sure how much of this draft is actually the writer's or the director's.
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