With the exception of Woody Harrelson getting nominated for Best Supporting Actor, THE MESSENGER has not been getting the attention that it deserves from the critics and awards. This is the film that should've been nominated for Best Picture (Drama) by the Golden Globe Awards. This is the film that should've been nominated for Best Picture by the Broadcast Film Critics Awards. With the exception of the Independent Spirit Awards, THE MESSENGER is being grossly overlooked. I think it may be because it is not released by a major distributor. And it is overshadowed by THE HURT LOCKER. To tell you the truth, I have seen both films, and I'll take THE MESSENGER over THE HURT LOCKER anyday. THE HURT LOCKER was more suspenseful, but THE MESSENGER did a much better job examining the human condition from both the soldiers and the civilians' point of view. In a way it reminded me of a contemporary version of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT because it depicted the horrors of the war, and the effects that it had on both the soldiers and their loved ones. I highly recommend this film. It is one of the best films of 2009. One last thing--it is about time Woody Harrelson wins an Oscar for his performance as an actor. He is incredible in this film.
Ben Foster, who was so excellent in "3:10 to Yuma" and "Six Feet Under," exceeds even those achievements as Sgt. Will Montgomery, an Iraq War soldier recovering from grievous physical and psychic wounds who receives the unwelcome assignment of notifying the survivors of soldiers killed in action. Making the assignment even harder is Capt. Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), a hard-nosed military lifer who commands Montgomery to stick to the script: never touch a survivor, and never express more than the most perfunctory sympathy. Stone, a recovering alcoholic, has his own problems: a veteran of the First Persian Gulf War, he never saw any combat worth the name, and suffers a world of guilt he tries to hide by playing the martinet and chasing every skirt he sees. Meanwhile, Montgomery, who has been jilted by his high-school sweetheart (Jena Malone), starts to develop feelings--totally against the rules--for a young military widow (Samantha Morton).
Featuring sharp dialogue and brilliant performances (including one by Steve Buscemi as the father of a fallen soldier), "The Messenger" is a powerfully moving cinematic experience.The Messenger is the story of Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery, played by Ben Foster, a wounded soldier who has returned to the base and is placed on the notification team until the time of his discharge. Colonol Dorsett, played by Woody Harrelson in his best performance to date, shows him the ropes. The two are an unlikely duo, and despite both being combat veterans (Dorsett in Desert Storm), this assignment provides a very different stress. The two soldiers are on call every hour of every day. When a soldier dies, they race to notify the family before they hear about their love one's death somewhere else. Given their unique jobs, they spend more and more of their time together even when they're not working.
The extended supporting cast members of this film are amazing. Their notifications are met with a variety of results, as we all process grief and shock differently. The supporting actors and actresses have one scene to deliver their messages of despair and grief. The film is a fascinating look into the human psyche, and it's the best war movie I've ever seen. It's a deep, thoughtful, uncomfortable look at the effects of war on individuals. Woody Harrelson was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but I'm surprised Samantha Morton was not nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
The Messenger is not always an easy film to watch, but it's well worth the time. It's not a movie I want to watch over and over again, but it a film I will buy and watch once every year or two. Mostly, I'll pass along my dvd to anyone who will watch it. Everyone has jumped on The Hurt Locker bandwagon, but The Messenger is a better film. It's smarter, more nuanced and a more fascinating look at this war. I was surprised when it wasn't nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. There's no question it is one of the five best films of the year.
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*** This review may contain spoilers ***The job of notifying next of kin by the Army Casualty Notification Unit is an extremely sensitive one. Such a job is not entrusted to just anyone in the military--you have to undergo significant training before you're assigned to such a specialized unit. That's why it's hard to believe that Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) would be thrust into the job when he only has three months of enlistment time left. What's more, would the Sergeant have been chosen since he's only recently come back from Iraq and may have been traumatized there? As for his training, his commanding officer, Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), merely throws a training manual in his lap and expects him to learn the job as they go along.
To confess, I'm a bit biased against movies such as 'The Messenger' because I find characters who like themselves to be vastly more compelling and believable than those who don't. In general, characters who don't like themselves are dull and rarely add to the dramatic flow of the narrative (can you imagine a sad-sack Tony Soprano ever capturing the public's imagination?). The strategy of the Messenger's scenarists is to start us off with the two angst-ridden soldiers, Montgomery and Stone, and eventually show how they redeem themselves by overcoming their depressing background and circumstances.
Montgomery is basically a putz who can't accept the fact that his former girlfriend has dumped him and is now engaged to someone else (how many sad-sack soldiers do you know who would actually show up at an ex-girlfriend's wedding intoxicated and wearing unwashed military fatigues?). The implication of course is that somehow, due to being traumatized in Iraq, he would end up acting that way. The contrived wedding scene is designed to show Montgomery at his lowest moment--after acting in such a boorish manner, he can now redeem himself by lending a helping hand to Olivia (Samantha Morton), the widow who he recently notified that her husband had been killed in action.
Similarly, Captain Stone also has self-esteem issues. On the surface, his by-the-book demeanor masks a deep self-hatred. This is manifested in his constant skirt-chasing and avoidance of any meaningful relationships with women. The basic question arises: would the Military actually have put someone like Captain Stone in charge of an Army Casualty Notification Unit (i.e. someone so broken and negative?). I would suggest that such a negative character is a complete exaggeration anyway, designed merely to create dramatic scenarios where none would exist truly in reality. But even if such a character existed, he would probably be the last chosen by the military to head a Casualty Notification Unit.
It takes a good deal of time before the central conflict comes to a head between Stone and Montgomery. And that is basically Montgomery believes in being a little more sensitive when notifying the next of kin as opposed to Stone who wants to follow 'procedures'. That's about the essence of the conflict between the two principals and when they finally confront each other, it's not much of a payoff. The sub-plot involves Montgomery trying to start things up with Olivia--his decision to not make the moves on her is designed to show that he's a 'good guy' after all and through his efforts to help her, shows that he's attained a measure of redemption.
The Messenger also consists of various scenes in which the next of kin are notified of the deaths of their loved one's. Given the variety of the people we meet, it's probably the most interesting aspect of the film. Steve Buscemi's performance is probably the most notable (for better or worse) of these characters, where he strikes Montgomery after being notified about the death of his son, and later offers a rather predictable apology.
I've read that the men and women who perform the job of the Casualty Notification Units are dedicated, trained professionals who by the nature of their employment, must set an example by living lives of great integrity (unlike the two troubled malcontents in 'The Messenger'). The contrived characters of 'The Messenger' do nothing to enhance the reputation of these specialized units; rather, their opposition feels artificial, contrived, all part of a plot artifice that calls for the type of conflict one might expect to see in the movies but never in real life. While I have no doubt, 'The Messenger' was meticulously researched as to how these Notification units operate, it still feels like it was written by an outsider. 'The Messenger' might have gotten many of its 'facts' right, but unfortunately I could not believe I was watching a story about real people.
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You think your job`s bad? Imagine being Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), whose duty it is to deliver death notices to the families and loved ones of soldiers killed in action. With just three months of active duty left before he's honorably discharged from the service, this decorated war hero has been placed under the tutelage of Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), who's been doing this sort of thing for so long now that it has become almost but not quite routine. Things become complicated, however, when Will becomes romantically attracted to Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morgan), one of the young widows to whom he relates the shattering news. But the real focus is on the conflict and uneasy friendship between the by-the-book, struggling alcoholic Stone, who harbors a certain degree of guilt for never having actually served in battle, and the moody, sensitive, and slightly shell-shocked Will who's seen more blood-soaked action than he cares to think about. Yet, neither is a stereotype, for each is a complex individual dealing in his own way with the traumatizing effects of war be it on the home front or on the field of battle."Less is more" is the defining principle of "The Messenger," a vivid and powerful movie that understands that there is often more drama in what is left unsaid than what is actually spoken. Everything that occurs in the film seems to happen beneath the surface, as each of the characters tries to put up a brave front even when lives and souls are being torn asunder right before their eyes. Screenwriters Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon are not afraid to give each scene its due, even if that means letting it play out at great length or having the characters fumble in their efforts to articulate what it is they're trying to say. The emotions are raw and complex in this film, and Moverman's elegiac direction does full justice to the seriousness of the subject. He allows his characters the dignity of space, yet is never so detached from them as to render them objects of curiosity or pity. It's an impressive debut effort for the obviously gifted Moverman.
The scenes in which the two men deliver the news to the various loved ones are staged and executed brilliantly, beautifully capturing the manifold ways in which people deal with sudden tragedy. Particularly effective is Steve Buscemi's devastating cameo turn as a father who can't accept the reality of his son's death and, thus, strikes out at any convenient target as a means of channeling his rage.
Foster and Harrelson deliver breathtaking, perfectly calibrated, award-worthy performances, and they are matched every step of the way by a first-rate cast of supporting actors who never resort to grandstanding in the brief moments they appear on screen.
The one false note occurs when the two drunk officers crash the wedding party of Will's former girlfriend (played by Jena Malone, the young version of Jodie Foster in "Contact"), but it is a minor weakness in a film that earns each and every one of the tears it asks its audience to shed. And for a movie in which death plays such a central role, "The Messenger" still manages to affirm that emotional and psychological healing, though a long and painful process, can actually be achieved in the end.
Without a doubt, one of 2009's best films.
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