HUNTSVILLE — I was told recently, by a friend of mine with generally impeccable taste in movies, that he wasn’t really drawn to movies about the Iraq War. His reasoning was simple, and not political or ethical or at all motivated by an ideology. He said he just simply doesn’t find the Iraq War epic enough for the big screen. Give him a World War II or Civil War flick, any day.

It’s not an unfair viewpoint, really. If we toss aside all cultural and political opinion for a minute, and just focus on making a movie, it’s true that the Iraq War isn’t all that well suited to the big screen. It’s messy, it’s shadowy, the meatier parts take place in the public eye already, and it’s way less black and white than Nazis: bad, Americans: good. Toss in a monumentally polarized viewing audience (I think we can pretty much all agree that 1941-1945 was a fairly good idea), and you’ve got quite a knot to cut through on the way to a film that’s both engaging and relevant (we are, after all, still fighting this one).

There are exceptions, of course (Kathryn Bigelow’s brilliant “The Hurt Locker” being the most recent), but there’s no doubt it’s a tough racket.

Still, if you’ve had doubts about the entertainment value of an Iraq movie, “Green Zone” might just be the flick to change your mind.

Matt Damon stars as Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, the head of a team of soldiers on the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in the weeks following the initial invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Using intelligence reports, he and his team visit various sites throughout Baghdad that sources claim are harboring WMD (No, there’s not an S at the end of that. I don’t care how the people on Fox News say it; there’s no such thing as a Weapon of Mass Destructions.). Trouble is the sites keep coming up empty, and not just cleared out empty, flat-out empty for years empty.

When Miller attempts to question the intelligence reports, his commanding officers tell him to stand down. Meanwhile, a Wall Street Journal reporter (Amy Ryan), who wrote a bevy of stories detailing the intelligence reports in question, is looking for answers of her own from Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear), a Pentagon intelligence official who leaked the information to her and revealed that the information came from an unidentified source known only as “Magellan.”

As Miller heads out for another mission that he’s sure will end in an empty building, he’s slipped a business card by CIA Middle East expert Martin Brown (Brendan Gleeson), who agrees with his belief that the intelligence is flawed, and asks him to call with any information he finds.

What follows is an intense journey into a web of deceit that pits internal factions of the U.S. intelligence community against each other, and a trail that leads to a former Iraqi general who knows the truth about WMD.

I’m a film critic, not a political columnist, so I’m not going to reveal to you my own personal feelings on the WMD controversy. What I will tell you is that if you pass this flick up simply because you’ve got your own ideas about what did or didn’t happen, or because you have some problem with the questions it raises, you’re missing an incredible ride.

Director Paul Greengrass (who worked with Damon on the last two Jason Bourne flicks) uses his trademark handheld camerawork, quick cuts, and a minimum of special effects to ratchet the tension up early on and keep it taut straight on through the end. I’m not always impressed by documentary style shooting, but Greengrass has always made it work, and if there was ever a doubt of his prowess, this flick sets him apart as one of our finest action directors.

The cast is equally impeccable. Damon carries the flick as Miller, and sets himself apart yet again as an action star unafraid to show a degree of vulnerability and humanity. Kinnear turns in a wonderful performance in only a few scenes, and proves his versatility in a far darker role than audiences are used to. Gleeson is superb, as always, and Ryan, though painfully underutilized, rolls with the boys like a pro. And if you look close, you’ll see Jason Isaacs giving a pitch-perfect performance as a special forces commander.

As hard as it is to make a good Iraq War film, it might be even harder these days to make an action film that doesn’t make you feel like you’re watching a two hour cliché. “Green Zone” defies the odds by being both at the same time, and manages to say something without being preachy or crass (ahem, James Cameron, I’m looking at you).

Matt’s Call: One of the best action flicks I’ve seen in quite a long time, and one of the few that’s not swollen with stunts and polish. If you love edge-of-your-seat movies, don’t miss it.