“The Messenger” is a film about two men assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service, a job that’s perhaps too dirty for even Mike Rowe to touch. It doesn’t involve swimming in sewage or cleaning up various animal waste, but instead requires giving notice to the families of fallen soldiers of their kin’s death. It’s a job dirty with emotions such as grief, anger and fear, but somebody’s got to do it. And that somebody is Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery and Captain Tony Stone in this gritty, compelling drama.
In his directorial debut, Oren Moverman, who also co-wrote the Oscar-nominated original screenplay with Alessandro Camon, occasionally falls into the trap of using tiresome clich?s like the returned soldier who has a difficult time adjusting to life back home and the far removed veteran with a drinking problem. Yet, the film’s greatest strength is, for the most part, it’s not like other war dramas.
The film doesn’t rely on high-octane war sequences with bullets whizzing by and expensive explosions blowing tanks up in the distance. Instead, it focuses on a solemn human interaction that war films rarely touch upon, if at all. This film isn’t about the battle on the frontlines; it’s about the internal war that wages on in the individual.
On one hand, there’s Staff Sergeant Montgomery (Ben Foster, “Pandorum”), an injured war hero who’s forced to spend the remainder of his service working with Casualty Notification. Not only does he struggle to fit back into normal society, but he’s also come home to find the girl he couldn’t commit to before he shipped off (Samantha Morton, “Synecdoche, New York,” in a slightly over hyped role) is now engaged to another man.
Then there’s Captain Stone (Woody Harrelson, “2012”), the Gulf War veteran and semi-recovering alcoholic who has spent enough years notifying parents and spouses that their loved ones have died in war that hardly any emotion escapes his hardened exterior.
While the older, more experienced teacher showing the ropes to the younger, ignorant rookie is certainly nothing new to film, the nerve-racking demands of the service these two must perform takes this relationship to an emotional level that most movies can’t reach. But a poignant screenplay can only take this relationship so far. In the end, the make-or-break component is the chemistry between the two actors.
That’s where Foster and Harrelson step in. This movie grabs the audience’s heartstrings and pulls them in because the pair are truly convincing as two soldiers who start out with begrudging respect for each other but eventually become friends who find in the other a hidden strength to move on.
As the film goes on, Foster’s performance just continues to get better as he starts to defy Stone’s guidelines for performing their duty, breaking out of his war-torn shell and revealing his true character and emotions.
It’s Harrelson, though, that steals Foster’s spotlight. The veteran actor had a banner year in 2009, earning a Golden Globe, SAG and Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Stone in addition to a surprise hit with “Zombieland” and a part in the $769 million blockbuster, “2012.” His portrayal of Stone as a slightly immature, loose wire who hides behind his stoic persona and military uniform is what makes his final tragic scene with Foster the emotional cornerstone of the film. In fact, Moverman’s biggest mistake is not ending the film on this heartrending note.
What Moverman does understand, though, is suspense. When Montgomery and Stone arrive at the door of a fallen soldier’s kin, nobody ever answers the door on the first knock. The two stand on the front stoop with the apprehension rising as the audience waits, wondering what the reaction will be. The best is a surprisingly dramatic performance from Steve Buscemi (“Youth in Revolt”) as an enraged father who questions the morals of the bad news messengers.
With Hollywood keeping its eye on the dollar by sticking with blockbuster war flicks, it’s a breath of fresh air to see films like “The Hurt Locker” and “The Messenger” make it out of the fray and into theaters. With moving performances from Foster and Harrelson and a relevant yet unique screenplay, the film takes a gripping approach to the war drama that shouldn’t be ignored.
4 stars out of 5.
