The Messenger: Film Review

This is a wonderful film with a superb cast and a great screenplay/story. It's unabashedly honest and real and doesn't boast pro or anti anything. I dig that. It's sad and it's painful but completely beautiful in just about every way. It's extremely human. I was impressed.

I wasn't sure what to expect from a story about two guys going around telling Army family members they'd lost loved ones in battle. I knew I wanted to see it but wasn't sure how much substance the story could have, really. It's got the substance, fear not.

Woody Harrelson is great as always. He manages a handful of gut-busting and hilarious lines in an otherwise extremely serious movie. He shows really fantastic range in his acting abilities in this film. He's funny, he's serious, he's mean as fuck, he's compassionate and at a few moments he's heartbroken and completely sad. We really get the full spectrum of emotion from this cat and he did a wonderful job. At first we see only his surface: tough as nails. The further his character progresses through the story we see he's extremely conflicted. Simply, his existence is plagued by regret, remorse and booze.

Ben Foster has brought his A-game yet again. Every film I see this dude in he gets better. If he keeps on path he's going he'll probably win an Oscar one day. I loved this character -- conflicted from the words FADE IN. There was a brief moment of panic when I thought this guy was going to be swallowed by his guilt and remain its victim forever. Foster did a magnificent job making me believe this. The first 80 minutes of this film there's hardly a smile on his face. He's just fucking devastated and we don't really know why. Like Harrelson's character, Foster is guilt-ridden and regretful. Also, he does an amazing job of showing this bottled up rage without really doing anything. It's marvelous.

Samantha Morton is wonderful as well. She's got a lot of heart. She was a good choice. A side note about her real quick: I really like the decision to not cast a stunning beauty for this role. It would have seemed way too stale, even formulaic. Don't get me wrong, she's a pretty woman. Truly. But she's also very plain. Casting a plain woman was perfect otherwise this film might have stunk of over-bearing Hollyweird execs. She brought a real life element to the story because she looks like an ordinary person. This woman could be my neighbor. That aside she convinced me completely that she is the grieving widow she's cast to play.

On a directorial note I tip my hat to Moverman for translating everything to screen so well. Good directing is built on a good screenplay. The story is magnificent. Oren Moverman did a wonderful job writing this. That's big for me to say because he wrote "I'm Not There," the Bob Dylan biopic, as well and I fucking hated that film. Cate Blanchet was fantastic...but I digress. Anyhow, this is a wonderfully crafted screenplay and story.

A final writing comment: I'd like to give special nod, once more, to Ben Foster's character. Things are set up perfectly and literally immediately with the problems this character has. We learn what this guy is about fully within the first two or three minutes of the film. That's damn good writing and not easy to do (I've tried). No wasted time here though: "Boom here's a character. Boom he's fucked up, now let me show you the hows and whys." It's utterly fantastic. And the story never really lets up, we're never given a break. It's a perfect way to tell this kind of story.