Another dark, gloomy drama about home life during wartime, this film features some seriously great performances and a theme that will resonate powerfully with thoughtful audiences.
The Messenger (2009)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:14
Fresh:13
Rotten:1
Average Rating:7.3/10
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis:
Co-written by Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon, THE MESSENGER is a powerful and tender story about a returned war hero making his first steps toward a normal life.
In his first leading role,...
Co-written by Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon, THE MESSENGER is a powerful and tender story about a returned war hero making his first steps toward a normal life.
In his first leading role, Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.
Featuring tour-de-force performances from Foster, Harrelson and Morton, and a brilliant directorial debut by Moverman, THE MESSENGER brings us into the inner lives of these outwardly steely heroes to reveal their fragility with compassion and dignity. --© Oscilloscope
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Starring: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone
Starring: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker, Steve Buscemi
Director: Oren Moverman
Director: Oren Moverman
Screenwriter: Oren Moverman, Alessandro Camon
Producer: Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zach Miller
Composer: Nathan Larson
Studio: Oscilloscope Pictures
Reviews for The Messenger
Though it feels a little too indie-ish in its wallowing misery, The Messenger signals the start of strong year-end work.
So bungled up with fashionable ambivalence about the Iraq War that every single behavioral detail is not just prejudicial but wrong.
As powerful and restrained a drama as you could wish for...a film of both great sadness and great redemption.
This is a fully felt, morally alert, marvellously acted piece of work. Despite the grim subject, it’s a sweet-tempered movie, with moments of explosive humor -- an entertainment.
Grief is universal, and watching soldiers deal with complex emotions seems to me universal too.
This richly conceived powerhouse drama about life and death is ultimately about the search for a sense of family, whether in peace or war, and what binds humans together despite the most unendurable horrors at hand.
The Messenger manages to be both practical and patriotic in the same breath, zeroing in on one of the most painful aspects of wartime.
What could have been a grim, depressing Iraq war drama of two men who deliver dreaded news becomes in Moverman's promising debut a human tale of grief and survival, balancing grave issues with humor, underlined by strong acting from Foster and Harrelson
Although Hollywood has dealt with the war from various perspectives, Moverman’s film offers a new angle that brings the horrors home about the decision to go to war.
Latest News for The Messenger
October 25, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
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