Movie Review: The Messenger

by Justin Velasquez

December 4, 2009

In what has become a big year for military-themed films The Messenger comes at time when family support is at its most valuable and necessary.  Starring Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma) and Academy Award nominee Woody Harrelson (The People vs. Larry Flint), first time director Oren Moverman is able to show another side of the military not often spoken about. 

Similar to The Hurt Locker, an incredible film released earlier this year, The Messenger deals more with the emotional consequences of being a member of the military.  Foster plays U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery, a man who has just returned home from a tour of duty in Iraq.  Upon his return Will is assigned to the Casualty Notification Team, a less than ideal job where soldiers notify the next of kin of their loved one's death.  Along with Captain Tony Stone (Harrelson) the two go about delivering the bad news as if they represent the Grim Reaper himself. 

Early on viewers can tell that Will has trouble adjusting to life back home.  His emotional detachment is heightened when the one girl he cares for, Kelly (Jena Malone, The Ruins), visits him upon his return only to inform him that she's engaged to someone else.  With this particular assignment Will's emotional imbalance could surely take a violent turn. 

Tony is another man with personal issues.  His glory days in the Army were spent during Desert Storm and he has an alcohol problem that he's trying hard to recover from.  He claims to have been dry for a few months and states that he's in AA, but hanging out in dimly-lit bars isn't going to help him cope.  Tony is a veteran member of the Casualty Notification Team and insists to newcomer Will that he needs to stick with the script and keep it as by-the-book as possible.  Of course this task is much easier said than done since they are met with vastly emotional and differing responses from all of the next of kin they visit.  To quote Tony after one particular visit, "There is no such thing as a satisfied customer."

Will is still making that mental & emotional transition while Tony is trying to fight the lonely old man status that he unsuccessfully jokes about.  These factors certainly affect a job that can potentially consume the two soldiers and to say that they're on the verge of a mental breakdown is an understatement.

Complicating matters is Will's introduction to Olivia Pitterson (Two-time Academy Award nominee Samantha Morton).  Will and Tony deliver Olivia the news of her husband's death, and even though it's a major no-no and is an undeniable ethical dilemma to reach out to those bereaved, Will finds himself drawn to this now-widowed mother of one.  Will finds comfort in Olivia just as Olivia does in Will and the signs of a romance begin to stir.  Luckily it's portrayed as pure and innocent as opposed to Will's relationship with Kelly, which seemed more lustful and dirty (at least during the brief time the audience saw Will & Kelly together).  What Olivia and Will are building in their relationship is something that Will and Kelly could've had before he shipped out, and Will's search to become a normal person again may actually be achieved with Olivia.

It can be seen that Will, Tony and Olivia all share a common sense of loss.  The trick for all of them is how they deal with it.  Although death is never seen in the film it's talked about often and it hovers over everyone like a kite attached to a child's wrist on a windy day.  Death tugs hard on all three characters so something as simple as friendship and companionship can go a long way towards overcoming such a bleak environment.

The Messenger isn't a film that going to dazzle you with loads of action, sly camera tricks or expensive special effects.  What it will do is provoke you to feel what the characters are feeling.  This is a character piece that benefits even more from great performances.  Ben Foster puts forth his best performance to date, showing the soft and tender side of a man mentally broken due to the horrors of war.  Woody Harrelson continues his big year - Zombieland was a hit and he complements that financial success with a critical one.  His role as Tony was interesting enough to be its own film, but the role was written well enough to lend support to the recovering Will.  Samantha Morton is good in any role she takes - you can add small town widow to this Brit's impressive resume.

Oren Moverman, who also served as co-writer for The Messenger (Alessandro Camon was the other screenwriter) allows the actors to tell the story rather than force any of the scenes.  His sharp writing (Moverman wrote 1999's searing Jesus' Son) comes through here and his direction helped with the continuity.  Keep in mind that people aren't going to knock down any doors to see this film, but if you have a chance and want to see a feature that is more substance than style, then by all means see The Messenger.

3.5 Stars out of Four