“The Messenger” Review: Bad News on the Doorstep

Image copyright Oscilloscope Pictures

To state the obvious: Today’s wars are a tricky subject for the movies.  Any film with a political message is bound to turn off viewers who disagree with it, but avoiding political statements altogether has its own downsides.  Personally, I don’t want narrative films to function just as blatant ideological propaganda, but it seems disingenuous for movies about war to ignore the large-scale causes and consequences of their subject matter.

“The Messenger” would at first seem to be prime fodder for these damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t pitfalls.  It avoids them, though, by being more about war’s aftermath than about war itself.  Although the film is set in the present day, its central theme, the sense of displacement and alienation suffered by returning veterans, is at least as old as Odysseus.  This is an issue that haunts all wars, right or wrong.

The protagonist, Will (Ben Foster), is an Army Staff Sergeant who has come back to America after a tour in Iraq which nearly ended in his death. “Love the war or hate it,” one civilian says to him, “we support you all the way.” The film seems to be asking what kind of support we’re really willing, or even able, to give.

Case in point: The aforementioned civilian is the fiancée of Will’s former sweetheart, Kelly (Jena Malone), who hooks up with Will when he first arrives home but prefers for him not to show up at her engagement party. Will doesn’t seem to have any other friends, nor family; his primary relationship in the film is with Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), his supervisor in his newly assigned job of Casualty Notification Officer. In case you’re not familiar with military jargon, this means that Will and Stone are the guys who get to knock on the doors of deceased soldiers’ next of kin and deliver the news that anyone with a loved one in the armed forces dreads.

The film’s various plot threads stem from this job. Stone awkwardly tries to form a friendship with Will, and to convince him to stay with the Army. Will finds himself drawn to a grieving widow (Samantha Morton).  The plot unfolds so naturally that it’s hard to see any artifice behind it, which is one of the greatest compliments I can give as a critic.  The script, by Alessandro Camon and director Oren Moverman, unravels its characters gradually but with a sure touch and an appropriate dash of humor.  The acting is so convincing across the board that I’m surprised Harrelson was the only cast member to be nominated for an Oscar.

The only potentially problematic aspect of the movie is the way the story meanders in the second half and never really comes to much of a resolution.  Even this, though, seems somewhat appropriate.  The movie is as unsure as Will is, and as we are, about what he’s supposed to do next.

About Matt Hoffman

Matt Hoffman (COM/CAS '10) is a film writer for the Quad, and is currently majoring in Film and International Relations at BU. His writing can also be found at Pegleg Spinners, Super Tuesdays and Mania.com. He grew up in Connecticut and is not a pro BMX biker.

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