The Messenger Review

"It could be worse. It could be Christmas." - Capt. Tony Stone

Most modern war movies are doing the right thing by not focusing on THE war, but instead focus on the soldiers. The Messenger, a film that came out last year like The Hurt Locker, does not feature the war in the Middle East but we feel it's presence in the main characters. The soldiers in The Messenger are not fighting a physical or environmental enemy, but mental and emotional anguish. The job of the heroes in this film is to inform citizens that their son or father or daughter or mother has been killed in the line of duty. Many war movies display a soldier dying violently with great effect, but seeing a piece of that soldier's family die in their own living room can be just as tragic.

Fresh from the shit, the decorated and recently recovered Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) is given job of Casualty Notification as a way of serving out the last few months of his tour. His commanding officer is Capt. Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), who has never seen combat but knows the stoic procedure down to a T. Montgomery has to deal with his own demons, his trouble seeking CO, and a need to care for a woman (Samantha Morton) whom he notified of her husband's death. The end product, which is the first film made by Oren Moverman, is startling and devestatingly effective.

Getting the technical aspect out of the way, I will say that this film has a unique visual style. The camera is very often shaky, almost documentary like, during many tense scenes, while also having its wealth of fine angles and steady shots.

Now for my favorite part. The acting. It was phenomenal. Once again, the cast does a lot in spite of the fact that there is no ensemble group. Ben Foster, like Joseph Gordon Levitt (Maybe moreso), is proving again and again to be one of Hollywood's most terrific modern actors. He brings so much depth and emotion to his role. He almost embodies this very haunted man. Woody Harrelson (Oscar nominated for this) pulls off one of his best roles as a man who is precise and focused as hell on the job but still finds time being Woody Harrelson while off duty in a way that fits the story. Harrelson is still awesome, you won't see it at first but he was the one who damn near made me weep. The female lead of the movie is Samantha Morton who really is never anything but good. She has a great, subtle, and natural screen presence, her face almost breathes hope and light (lets say if I were to cast an angel she would be it). I'm not sure if she actually put on weight or is wearing a suit or makeup of some kind but she is a bit heavier in this to pull off a sort of average woman look about her. Her performance is very touching and never goes cheesey or cliche. A real surprise here was Steve Buscemi in a small but incredibly powerful role. He plays a father due for notification and his reaction to his son's death is one of the most, if not the most incredible moment in his career (next to the "I don't believe in tipping" scene from Reservoir Dogs). Any other actors, unknowns I'm pretty sure, who play those being notified of the deaths of loved ones are heartbreakers. Jena Malone has a small role that again shows her maturity and not just because of her sex scene (yeah she isn't young Jodie Foster from Contact anymore) but she's still Jena Malone and charming as hell and always nice to have in a movie so there ya go. So once again acting gets an A++, because I really don't watch a lot of movies without something close to that.

The Messenger is a deep, compelling, emotionally charged story about the effects that war has at home. It should be viewed with an open mind and a prepared box of tissues. It nearly made me cry and left me unsettled for the next two days. It is that powerful. Four out of four purple hearts (that's right I'm adding a rating system).

This has been a heavy hitter review from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.