¨Men don’t ask for directions, much less soldiers. Soldiers on a notification, definitely, positively do not ask for freaking directions. No GPS, no Map Quest, we navigate.¨
(8/10) Oren Moverman co-wrote and directed this great film focusing on the impact the war of Iraq has on its soldiers and their families. The Hurt Locker got a lot more critical attention, but in my opinion The Messenger is also a great movie with a lot of psychological depth and great performances from the entire cast. It is a movie you won`t want to miss if you are interested in good acting and character driven films. It is not a popcorn action film and some may find it slow, but it is a good movie, and it focuses on the characters rather than on special effects or action scenes. It is also very well written; Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon received Oscar nominations for Best Screenplay. This was Moverman´s directorial debut and it is quite impressive as he managed to get great performances from everyone. He had previously written I`m Not There, but what really helped him with this film was his personal experience as he served in the Israeli Army for four years. No one can possibly understand the psychological impact of war in the soldiers as someone who has actually been in one, so that personal insight was what gave this movie a real look to it.
Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster from 3:10 to Yuma) just returned from the Iraq War after being injured in an explosion. He still has 3 months left of service and is being treated back home in the States for an eye and leg injury. Will is being assigned to work with the Casualty Notification Team for the remainder of his enlistment days. He has the difficult task of informing the family`s of deceased US soldiers that they were killed in action. He is paired with a more experienced officer, Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) who shows him the protocol. He soon discovers that the job is more difficult than he imagined and is not prepared for the reactions of the family members. Meanwhile he maintains a sexual relationship with his ex girlfriend Kelly (Jena Malone from Stepmom) who happens to be engaged with another man since they broke up when Will was at Iraq. Will and Tony both have their own issues to deal with, but they manage to establish a nice friendship. Will is surprised one day after informing a young woman, named Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton from Minority Report), about the death of her husband. Her reaction is unlike the rest and she seems to be very polite towards them. Olivia and Will form a friendship and their relationship begins to grow despite the awkward situation. The movie is very character driven and it focuses mainly on these four characters and their relationship with each other.
The Messenger works mainly because of the performances from the entire cast. Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson are just great. Woody actually was nominated for the Oscar as a Best Supporting Actor, but Ben Foster also gave a terrific performance in the lead role and he deserved a nomination as well. Samantha Morton was also extremely believable in her role as Olivia and felt very natural. These good performances along with great dialogue and character depth are what make The Messenger such a great film. The psychological impact in the characters is also very raw and real and the film just develops nicely. The beginning started off a bit slow, but as the movie moves on we are really drawn to the characters and the relationships that bind them. The Messenger is not another movie about the Iraq War, it is a movie you won`t want to miss even though it was kind of forgotten after all the hype that The Hurt Locker received. This is not a better film than that one, but it still is one I recommend and enjoyed.
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