RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / In Cinemas / The Messenger
The Messenger

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Showtimes & Tickets
  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon
Bookmark and Share

The Messenger (2009)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
90 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:70

Fresh:63

Rotten:7

Average Rating:7.4/10

Consensus: A dark but timely subject is handled deftly by writer/directer Owen Moverman and superbly acted by Woody Harrleson and Ben Foster.

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
[More]

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

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 5 of 12

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for The Messenger

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

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.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
10/08/09
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

Intelligent, graceful, and touching filmmaking.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
11/12/09
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Common Sense Media

One of the rare movies that communicates honestly and artfully about the real casualties of war: the surviving combatants.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
11/20/09
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

...[The Messenger] highlights the gulf between those who have served in Iraq and nearly everyone else they deal with after returning home.

Full Review Source: Playback:stl | comment Comment
12/01/09
Sarah Boslaugh
Sarah Boslaugh
Playback:stl

This character piece may be for the arthouse, but the artistry has a gaping wound, large enough to allow credulity to seep out.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
11/17/09
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

The Messenger is a successful examination of the harsh realities of war that too often are put in the back of people's minds.

Full Review Source: Washington Times | comment Comment
11/13/09
Sonny Bunch
Sonny Bunch
Washington Times

As the lonely, complex and friendly Stone, Harrelson evokes the experience of The Messenger as sturdily as a freshly pinned medal of valor.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
11/12/09
Chris Cabin
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com

Director Oren Moverman’s feature-length debut is a little like The Hurt Locker in the way it uncomfortably probes a little-known military organelle.

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
11/19/09
Shaula Clark
Shaula Clark
Boston Phoenix

A n intricate dual character study.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
10/08/09
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
Reeling Reviews

The Messenger involves difficult subject matter, but it's not hard to watch. It's sad and sobering, but also humorous and touching at turns.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
11/30/09
Lisa Ann Cockrel
Lisa Ann Cockrel
Christianity Today

Foster and Harrelson have a winning camaraderie as they develop a bond of trust and friendship. Both performances are memorable and deserve year-end awards consideration.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Spectrum | comment Comment
11/26/09
Keith Cohen
Keith Cohen
Entertainment Spectrum

This is a poignant war movie, but it's also a buddy movie with a difference, one that's both funny and bleak.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
11/19/09
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

The Messenger manages to be both practical and patriotic in the same breath, zeroing in on one of the most painful aspects of wartime.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
10/26/09
Peter Debruge
Peter Debruge
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: New Yorker | comment Comment
11/09/09
David Denby
David Denby
New Yorker

A fine bookend to Katheryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, showing another side of how the war at home can be just as rigorous as the one abroad.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
11/14/09
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

The Messenger knows that even if it tells a tearjerking story, it doesn't have to be a tearjerker. In fact, when a sad story tries too hard, it can be fatal.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
11/19/09
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

I’m not sure how Morton made sense of her character’s ebbs and flows, but I never doubted her. She’s a mariner in uncharted seas of emotion.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
11/16/09
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
New York Magazine

As powerful and restrained a drama as you could wish for...a film of both great sadness and great redemption.

Full Review Source: Hollywood & Fine | comment Comment
11/10/09
Marshall Fine
Marshall Fine
Hollywood & Fine

The miracle of this film is in its insistence on finding a way back home -- to fragile new beginnings giving way to new friendship, perhaps even new love.

Full Review Source: Indie Movies Online | comment Comment
12/04/09
Kimberly Gadette
Kimberly Gadette
Indie Movies Online

A story that strays about without finding its center.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
11/11/09
David Germain
David Germain
Associated Press
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Messenger

November 29, 2009: Satellite Awards Nominees Announced Opens in new window
Signaling that the awards season is about to begin, the International Press Academy has announced the nominees for its 14th annual Satellite Awards. More...

November 12, 2009: Critics Consensus: 2012 Isn't Quite Earth-Shaking
This week at the movies, we've got a global catastrophe (2012, starring John Cusack and Chiwetel Ejiofor) and some rock 'n' roll rebellion (Pirate Radio, starring Philip S.... More...

October 25, 2009: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

See All

More Movies

Top Box Office
Tomatometer Percentage Movie Gross

More Box Office…

30% 30% The Twilight Saga: New… £4.3M
84% 84% Paranormal Activity £3.6M
55% 55% Disney's A Christmas C… £1.9M
38% 38% 2012 £1.8M
25% 25% Law Abiding Citizen £1.5M
48% 48% Nativity! £0.8M
77% 77% Harry Brown £0.3M
86% 86% A Serious Man £0.2M
— De Dana Dan £0.3M

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Cameron Explains Blue Avatar Aliens Source: MTV
5
  • Matt Damon Expects Greengrass to Return for Fourth Bourne Source: Collider.com
4
  • Burton's Dark Shadows Rising in 2010 Source: Sci Fi Wire
1
  • Exclusive: The World of Where the Wild Things Are
24
  • Peter Jackson Talks Hobbit, LotR Blu-ray Source: Collider.com
20
  • Woman Jailed for Filming New Moon Screening Source: Chicago Sun-Times
17
  • McG Has Plans for Fifth and Sixth Terminator Movies Source: Gizmodo
201
  • Spielberg Hops Away from Harvey Source: Variety
22
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
24
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
26
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
83
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
57
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
50
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
46
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
41
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
40
  • Weekly Ketchup: Tron Team to Remake The Black Hole
37
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: The Blind Side Takes the Lead
29
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
28
  • Friday Harvest: Iron Man 2, Harry Potter, and more!
24
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Avatar's Sam Worthington
24
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • The Messenger at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.