The Messenger (2009/I)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Oren Moverman

Writers (WGA):

Alessandro Camon (written by) &
Oren Moverman (written by)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Plot:

An American soldier struggles with an ethical dilemma when he becomes involved with a widow of a fallen officer. |

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Ben Foster	...	Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery
Jena Malone	...	Kelly
Eamonn Walker	...	Colonel Stuart Dorsett
Woody Harrelson	...	Captain Tony Stone
Yaya DaCosta	...	Monica Washington
Portia	...	Mrs. Burrell
Lisa Joyce	...	Emily
Steve Buscemi	...	Dale Martin
Peter Francis James	...	Dr. Grosso
Samantha Morton	...	Olivia Pitterson
Paul Diomede	...	Motorcycle Cop
Jahmir Duran-Abreau	...	Matt Pitterson
Gaius Charles	...	Recruiter Brown
Brendan Sexton III	...	Recruiter Olson
Brian Adam DeJesus	...	Teenager #1

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual content/nudity.

Runtime:

Germany:105 min (Berlin International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Oscilloscope Laboratories

Trivia:

Sgt. Brian Scott, who was training to deploy to Iraq at Ft. Dix in New Jersey and was a technical advisor in this film, was subsequently injured in an IED attack in Baghdad.

NOT a war movie; NOT a movie about an ethical dilemma

I was fortunate enough to see this at the recent NY Drama Critics showcase, where both the director (Mr. Moverman) and a co-star (Woody Harrelson) participated in after-show Q&A. First of all, the film is superb - but the summaries I've seen so far do not do justice to what the movie is really about. Sure there are ethical dilemmas, sure there are soldiers who have returned from Iraq. But the great strength of this film is its focus on individual human beings and their reaction to humans' most important concerns: life, death and love. Oren Moverman - accomplishing this so beautifully, accurately and subtly in a small-budget film - is to be congratulated. Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster and Samantha Morton are all magically on the same wavelength in their performances. And the writing (by Camon and Moverman) acknowledges the fact that reasonably intelligent people might be watching... people who don't need every little detail spelled out. Oh yes - I should mention that there's a lot of humor interspersed throughout. The result of all this? The people you meet in this film will stay with you for a very long time - and you'll be glad for that.