I haven't really found any Messenger reviews floating in yet, so I'll kick off the thread with my review of it.
THE MESSENGER Oscilloscope
There aren’t too many movies about war and its aftermath that I would just jump to see, or recommend to others. Nor, in this season where I’m seeing two or three Oscar contenders a week, are there movies that I jump to say: Put this one on the shortlist for Best Picture.
“The Messenger,” however, is both of those things.
If you believe, and indulge me with this for a second, that war and fighting and killing, is the stuff of maleness. And crying and emotion and reaching out to others is the stuff of femaleness, this movie strives to bring both sides together, if you will.
The premise is simply this: decorated war hero (Ben Foster) in his last three months of duty, gets tasked with informing families of their son or daughter’s death. He is assisted in his task by his superior (Woody Harrelson), who’s been doing this awhile, and is inured to it.
Comment is made that “up until Vietnam” they used to send telegrams. Now, they have servicemen in their uniforms deliver the bad news. With a canned prepared speech. They are instructed not to touch the “NOKs” (Next of Kin). Just deliver and leave.
So, in this subtle way, it lets you know that Oh By the Way, there are people dying in this “war” and lots of them. Also subtly showing you that military men don’t really know from emotion.
Ben Foster in a You Can Hand Him the Oscar Right Now type of performance does superb work as the sergeant tasked with this ominous duty. Woody Harrelson is also really great in his role, and Samantha Morton, who is wonderful in everything, really delivers in a supporting role. Steve Buscemi also appears, showing far more emotion than I’ve ever seen in any of the 1000s of movies I’ve seen him in.
It’s also very jarring (to me anyway) when Foster’s character gets called by his name for the first time in the very last scene of the movie. Jarring, yet extremely fitting. That little touch, and there are so many of them throughout, speaks volumes.
It is sad, heartbreaking even, well structured, thoughtful and moving piece of filmmaking about the Iraq war. I highly recommend it to everyone.
The Messenger opened the 12th Savannah Film Festival with a bang: a sellout crowd, international press, and Hollywood stars Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster in attendance to rub elbows all night. Even without the glitz, though, Savannah was a smart place to screen the Iraq drama. Oren Moverman's film is a character study about a soldier (Foster) dealing with the aftermath of war, but like Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq film The Hurt Locker, it's about the personal toll Iraq leaves on soldiers who survive and the families of those who don't; the politics of war are hardly an issue. And so, in a city that supports two military bases and the men and women who serve them, The Messenger played like gangbusters.
Foster stars as William Montgomery, a recent Iraq returnee dealing with serious leftover issues and a new assignment to play out his final three months of service: informing families that their loved ones have been killed on duty. As Montgomery's partner, Harrelson provides moments of levity, but there were plenty of sniffles throughout the film just the same.
While it was pretty easy to figure out what the general consensus was, there were three figures in particular I was watching for a reaction – the only three uniformed soldiers in attendance, who may or may not have been connected to the production. (The film has been screened for military personnel, and Harrelson and Foster personally met soldiers at Hunter Army Airfield prior to the night's screening.) When asked what military folk have thought of his film in the post-screening Q&A, director Moverman deferred to one of the officers in the audience to share his reaction with the crowd. What follows is the unnamed soldier's impromptu review of The Messenger.
"The character of Staff Sergeant Montgomery is very close, to a tee; there are men and women, and myself, that have those issues. They are no different than anyone else. We're husbands and wives, sons and daughters, aunts and uncles. To me, this brings a message home. People don't see the difficulties that we go through. It is hard. It's hard going to a loved one and telling them that they've lost their son or daughter, or their husband or wife. It's very difficult... I've done funeral detail and it's the same thing; it's to honor the ones that have fallen. Everyone has their outlook on the conflicts, but we're grateful that you get behind us. There are not enough thanks in the world that can say, but that does really mean a lot to all of us. It truly does, because of the sacrifices we've gone through. Deep in our hearts, we really are very grateful for that."
To director Moverman: "Sir, the way you directed the movie -- [filling] the background with active-duty soldiers who came back from deployment in theater -- that has a great authenticity to it. It's very humbling, and very sincere... I hope someday that the American Film Institute will include your movie, representing this era in our history someday as a must-watch movie, for us to get a good understanding. Thank you."
To Woody Harrelson: "Woody – oh, man. Yes, we all have a sense of humor in the military, and when we're off duty and put away the ACU [Army Combat Uniform], yes, we do get down."
To Ben Foster: "This is the year of the non-commissioned officer. And you played the role very well. You showed the human side of yourself as a character. Man, I love you for that, brother. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. You do us really proud."
REVIEW: “The Messenger” (***1/2) Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 3:38 pm · October 9th, 2009
There is a film that succeeds as a cerebral drama, concerned with the impact of war on the individual, free of the genre’s typical tropes and remarkably fresh as a result. And believe it or not, I’m not talking about “The Hurt Locker.”
Of course, it is unfair to Oren Moverman’s “The Messenger” to so quickly evoke the name of one of the year’s most critically acclaimed films by way of comparison. And Kathryn Bigelow’s sterling 2009 gem doesn’t deserve to be jerked down a peg by showcasing the merits of another, more under-the-radar film.
But the fact remains, these two efforts are departures from the status quo in a dramatic subset that is perhaps more artistically important now than it has been in 60 years. And Moverman’s film has settled, for this viewer, much more completely than Bigelow’s. It instantly stands out as one of the year’s most powerful dramas.
The nuts and bolts of the story concern a pair of military officers charged with the heavy burden of notifying next of kin in the event of a combat casualty. Woody Harrelson’s Anthony “Tony” Stone has been wading through the waters of this “sacred” task for some time and has come to identify its importance with a strict regimen followed each time out.
Ben Foster’s Will Montgomery, meanwhile, has been relegated to Tony’s charge in the wake of a heavy combat experience. He is neither comfortable with the emotional workload of the job nor, seemingly, convinced of its importance over his battlefield duties.
The narrative isn’t focused in any traditional manner. It serves up what is, essentially, a series of vignettes, Tony and Will notifying next of kin in a variety of atmospheres. These are powerfully acted by supporting, basically cameo players such as Peter Friedman, Halley Feiffer, Steve Buscemi and Angel Caban, among others.
These scenes are broken up by a romantic interest that develops between Will and Olivia (Samantha Morton), one of the widows he and Tony are ordered to inform. However, this anchored dramatic through line, which goes a long way toward establishing Will’s compassion and offers Foster a chance to stretch his less intimidating side, doesn’t speak to the power of the piece’s message as definitively as the scenery. The story of “The Messenger” is its incredibly refined ensemble.
Each notification is as difficult and gut-wrenching as the last. Gone are the sanitized depictions of similar situations in efforts driven by subtle melodrama. These moments are authentic and lean. They depict a spectrum of the American experience without flirting with cliche.
Additionally, Moverman makes great use of long takes that capture impeccable, blemish-free work from his actors. Foster in particular seems better served by the camera’s allowing his moments to ebb and flow. The centerpiece of the film would have to be an extended exchange between Will and Olivia that ends in a cathartic moment of self-consideration for the former.
All of this leads seamlessly to one of the film’s final emotional scenes — a rare moment of weakness from Tony following a front-line account from Will. The indictment served as a result is one of the more powerful anti-war messages captured on film yet.
Foster is calculated but committed as Will. Morton is natural and genuine as Olivia. And the ensemble, as noted, is exceptional. But there is a story somewhere in the lack of appreciation Woody Harrelson receives as an actor.
Having a bang-up year with another fine if slight performance in “Zombieland,” Harrelson proves with “The Messenger” that he might be one of the unsung treasures of American acting. He always seems to be pleasantly surprising us.
But perhaps the fact is that his consistency proves out his value. Even in a film as dreadful as “Seven Pounds,” he strikes easy, competent rhythms. In something as well-honed as “The Messenger,” he sparkles truer than ever.
“The Messenger” might be in danger of getting lost in the awards season shuffle. A mid-November release date puts it in the middle of an unforgiving fray. But it is one of the best films of a year slammed with quality filmed entertainment.
Originally posted by seanflynn: The Savannah Film Festival? That's just sad.
Especially considering that, in MicheBel's opinion, "no one cares about the Venice Film Festival!"
"Notorious was nice, but it’s not in the color purple range" "Angels and Demons may get nominated for cinematography the imagery was profound" "District Nine will definitely win for best foreign film it made money and everyone loved it" ~ 8movies
Posts: 2774 | Location: nz | Registered: January 12, 2009
Originally posted by seanflynn: MicheBel, I am been trying to support and defend you as much as anyone here.
The Savannah Film Festival? That's just sad.
Sorry I feel like I should stick up for MicheBel. I recommended that she open up a topic for it because my topics usually don't get many replies, and I didn't want to look like a fangirl for Samantha Morton. (I like her because she's so unconventional looking, around my age, and usually gives performances that I love and/or respect in some way.) Of course, I'm also cheering for this film not because of Morton but because I've always been a fan of Woody Harrelson since his Cheers days and thought it was great that he could make the transition so well to film since it could have been easy for him to be typecast as Woody the rest of his life. I also am a fan of Moverman's other work and Ben Foster since Liberty Heights, so I do hope that The Messenger does get more of chance to be seen.
I also pointed her to the film's Facebook website where there are links to early reviews including the Kris Tapley one, and a short one by Roger Ebert, who also really admired the film at the Toronto Film Festival.
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It wasn't meant so much at her (although yeah, it comes off as that) as an indication that this apparently decent film - 10 months after premiering at the same film festival as Precious and An Education - has so little material to provide. And that, along with the lack of distribution interest, tells me this film will have a real struggle to get any Oscar attention.
I'll delete the Mikead comment; you are free to do the same in your post.
To reprint the trade reviews from Sundance last January:
Variety first
The Messenger An Omnilab Media Group presentation in association with Sherezade Film Development Co. and BZ Entertainment of a Mark Gordon Co. /Good Worldwide production. (International sales: UTA, Los Angeles.) Produced by Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zach Miller. Executive producers, Ben Goldhirsh, Christopher Mapp, Matthew Street, David Whealy, Glenn Stuart, Steffen Aumueller, Claus Clausen, Bryan Zuriff, Shaun Redick. Directed by Oren Moverman. Screenplay, Moverman, Alessandro Camon.
Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery - Ben Foster Capt. Tony Stone - Woody Harrelson Olivia Pitterson - Samantha Morton Kelly - Jena Malone Dale Martin - Steve Buscemi Col. Stuart Dorsett - Eamonn Walker
By PETER DEBRUGENobody plays angry like Ben Foster, but compassion is something new for the actor, who softens his crazy-man shtick to deliver a complex and moving performance in "The Messenger." Foster plays an Iraq War hero assigned to work for the Casualty Notification Office -- those uniformed bearers of bad news who show up on the doorsteps of parents and wives with word of a soldier's death. Director Oren Moverman's devastating debut confuses its message somewhat by allowing the officer to fall for one of the widows (Samantha Morton), a development, however, that should boost commercial prospects for this potent character study. Joining such recent Iraq War films as "Grace Is Gone" and "The Lucky Ones" in addressing combat's toll on the homefront, "The Messenger" manages to be both practical and patriotic in the same breath, zeroing in on one of the most painful aspects of wartime. Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery (Foster, "30 Days of Night") was wounded in Iraq, taking shrapnel to the leg and face. With only three months of service left on his enlistment, he is reassigned to casualty notification, arguably the Army's least comfortable job.
The movie sets up a fertile dynamic between the rebellious young man and his seasoned commanding officer, Capt. Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), a recovering alcoholic who has developed the nerves for their task. Montgomery is too weak at first, identifying too strongly with the grieving families to be the stone-faced messenger the job requires. After all, Montgomery is still working through his own issues: He came home to find his ex-girlfriend (Jena Malone) engaged to someone else, and he carries his post-traumatic stress just beneath the surface -- a stunning use of the actor's innate volatility.
But as the relationship between Montgomery and Stone matures, we come to realize that Montgomery may actually be the soldier better suited to express the Army's condolences to complete strangers. The task certainly helps him cope with his own demons -- Foster takes responsibility for a comrade's death and wrestles daily with the guilt of his own survival in ways that are suggested but not directly articulated until late in the movie.
Though much of the film focuses on their off hours, the episodes of the two officers at work prove challenging. Such scenes of sudden grief are familiar to most auds (the mother collapsing in her doorway in "Saving Private Ryan"), but "The Messenger" views the exchange from the p.o.v. of the men tasked with breaking the news. Montgomery has a difficult time standing by during these encounters (featuring strong, brief appearances by actors such as Steve Buscemi) -- and in the case of Morton's Army wife, he goes back to check up on her, an admirable sensitivity complicated by a highly inappropriate sexual attraction.
To offset the sheer tragedy, Moverman and co-writer Alessandro Camon inject a fair amount of humor into the film. Stone's casual jocularity is a way of coping with so much loss, and over time, Harrelson slowly lets the audience in on the true fragility of his character. But the narrative loses focus late in the second act, with the two officers going off on a wild bender, and crystallizes once again in a powerful confessional between the two men toward the end of the movie.
Camerawork and tech credits are polished and ready for release.
Camera (color, widescreen), Bobby Bukowski; editor, Alex Hall; music, Nathan Larson; music supervisor, Tracy McKnight; production designer, Stephen Beatrice; costume designer, Catherine George; sound (Dolby), Ken Ishii; casting, Laura Rosenthal, Ali Farrell. Reviewed at Sundance Film Festival (Premieres), Jan. 19, 2009. (Also in Berlin Film Festival -- competing.) Running time: 112 MIN.
The directorial debut of accomplished screenwriter Oren Moverman, whose credits include I’m Not There and Jesus’ Son, The Messenger is another story of US soldiers struggling with life after Iraq which, while well-acted and observed, is ponderous and prone to cliches. A main competition slot in Berlin following its Premiere screening in Sundance will help exposure but international buyers, as well as domestic, will be looking closely at the track record of other back-from-Iraq movies before committing to this one.
And that track record is a bleak one. From Stop-Loss to The Lucky Ones, Grace Is Gone to In The Valley Of Elah and Home Of The Brave, these movies have categorically failed to connect with audiences. Films set in the conflict itself like The Kingdom, Redacted or Rendition have bombed. Nor do big stars help apparently, as Lions For Lambs and Body of Lies proved. The Messenger is unlikely to break the tradition.
Moverman’s conceit is to focus on the task of soldiers charged with notifying loved ones of soldiers who have died in the line of duty. Which means, unfortunately, that his film is long on sequences showing parents and spouses reacting hysterically to the bad news. To say it’s a downer is an understatement, and, while the film-maker injects some humour along the way, it doesn’t go far enough in combating the maudlin subject matter.
Ben Foster is a revelation here, carrying the film and delivering his first true adult performance after a string of youthful turns in 3:10 To Yuma, X-Men: The Last Stand and Alpha Dog. He plays Will Montgomery, a staff sergeant decorated for heroism in Iraq, who has three months left on his army contract when he is assigned to be a Casualty Notification Officer. Reluctantly paired with the colourful and salty captain Tony Stone (Harrelson), he learns the techniques and hazards of the job - encountering everything from rage to violence to vomiting in the unfortunate NOK (next of kin).
On one assignment, the two inform a woman called Olivia (Morton) that her husband and the father of her son has been killed. She takes the news calmly and with kindness, prompting Will to take the unethical step of keeping in touch with her and helping her out. The two become friends, much to Stone’s chagrin.
The film doesn’t really have much of a story beyond that. Will and Stone forge a strong friendship, talk about women, drink together and behave badly at the engagement party of Will’s former girlfriend (Malone). Olivia decides to move away and make a fresh start, but she gives Will hope that they might have a future together.
Through these strong relationships, Will is able to offset the harrowing nature of his new job and reacclimatise to the US.
Harrelson gives one of his best performances as the army lifer Stone, a likeable sort behind the bravado, and Morton is excellent as always as the gentle widow, although some of the dialogue Moverman gives them borders on the affected, such as Olivia telling Ben that her late husband’s shirt smelt of ‘fear and rage’.
Despite the high level of performance, the script isn’t short of stock moments, including tearful recollection of coming under attack in Iraq to the violent expressions of rage (punching the wall in) to the obligatory brawling and womanising that comes with army movie territory
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Festivals Film Review: The Messenger By Justin Lowe, January 30, 2009 02:18 ET Bottom Line: A penetrating assessment of post-war readjustment PARK CITY -- Offering another perspective on the Iraq war's impact on returning soldiers, "The Messenger" gingerly probes wounds that are still healing with admirable empathy and insight. This delicate subject matter could be a tough sell in a marketplace still averse to accounts of the conflict, but with a competition slot at the upcoming Berlin International Film Festival following its Sundance world premiere, the film could see a pick-up from a dedicated distributor attuned to the careful handling required for a theatrical release.
Back in the U.S. after surviving a roadside attack in Iraq, Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) is still recovering from his injuries when his commander assigns him as an Army Casualty Notification Officer, charged with informing next of kin regarding military deaths. He's teamed with the more experienced Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), a by-the-book career soldier and recovering alcoholic who quickly shakes Montgomery down and puts him right into action.
Facing relatives of the deceased is a stressful and unpredictable assignment, leaving Montgomery frequently unprepared for families' reactions. Stone backs him up, though, and gradually the junior officer develops his own style, which Stone finds too empathetic.
Off duty, neither has much in the way of a social or family life -- Montgomery still sleeps with his now-engaged ex-girlfriend (Jena Malone) and Stone's intermittent relationships amount to little more than one-night stands -- and as a result the men gradually begin spending more free time together. So when Montgomery begins getting emotionally involved with a slain soldier's widow (Samantha Morton), the situation simultaneously challenges his loyalty to both Stone and the Army.
Already an experienced screenwriter, debut director Oren Moverman's intense two-hander endeavors to focus exclusively on the home front and perhaps avoid the quagmire of issues surrounding other Iraq-related films. But the war is constantly in the background, from Montgomery's combat wounds and frequent episodes of PTSD-induced rage to Stone's remorse over never having seen action.
To its credit, Moverman and co-writer Alessandro Camon's script effectively foregrounds the characters rather than their circumstances as they grope toward some form of redemption. Foster and Harrelson (remarkably aggro and bulked up) are well-paired, shading distinct zones of the military mindset, but the consequences of Montgomery's inappropriate relationship with Morton's widow character never gain much traction, making her almost an afterthought compared to the primacy of the men's complex relationship.
Moverman adopts a functional directing style that gives full rein to the actors' impressive performances, although the widescreen image draws unflattering attention to some of the more subjective Steadicam sequences.
A very positive review from David Denby in the NEW YORKER...
In “The Messenger,” Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), an Army lifer with a shaved head and a face like a cement block, and Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), a coiled, secretive Iraq-war hero, work together in one of the most difficult jobs in the armed services: informing parents and spouses that a loved one has been killed. They tell them immediately, hard upon the death, before the news can appear on the Internet or in the local paper. Messengers? For the families, the sternly polite men, arriving at the door in bemedalled uniforms and tilted berets, seem to be death itself. There’s an excruciatingly obvious but unavoidable irony here: “The Messenger” has also taken on the unwelcome task of telling its audience what it doesn’t much want to hear—how families are devastated by war. Yet the film is neither dutiful nor solemn. This is a fully felt, morally alert, marvellously acted piece of work. Despite the grim subject, it’s a sweet-tempered movie, with moments of explosive humor—an entertainment.
The picture was written not by Americans but by two foreign-born men working in Hollywood—Alessandro Camon, an Italian, and Oren Moverman, the director, who is a four-year veteran of the Israeli military. If these two missed certain shades of American colloquial speech, my ear didn’t detect it. The movie is by turns loquacious and raptly silent, and Moverman, directing for the first time, is tremendously talented at handling actors; he gives them the time and the space to work out characters who have layers and corners and shadows. We get to know these men well, yet we still think of them as mysterious.
Harrelson’s Tony Stone has been on death duty for a long time. An alcoholic temporarily on the wagon, he may no longer be qualified to do much else in the Army. Harrelson, with his eye-popping glare and acetylene voice, has often played wild men (most memorably in “The People vs. Larry Flynt”), but this time the antic aggression is bounded by rules—the Army protocols that keep the Captain functioning. As Harrelson slowly reveals, Tony, underneath his bristle and bluster, is utterly chaotic. Full of useless, ribald wisdom about women and relationships, he’s an ungovernable, unmarriageable, desperately lonely man who, when not working, won’t stop chattering to young Will. At first, Will, who is serving out the last three months of his tour while recuperating from wounds, has little interest in talking, and he looks at the overbearing Tony the way a sea bass looks at a shark. In these opening scenes, Ben Foster (from “3:10 to Yuma” and the HBO series “Six Feet Under”) holds himself back. But this twenty-nine-year-old actor, with his melancholy blue eyes and long jaw, may be one of the great spellbinders of his generation. When he’s silent, his face is entirely alive; his eyes seem to be looking inward and outward at the same time. It turns out that there’s a lot churning around inside Will. At the beginning of the movie, his girlfriend goes to bed with him and then returns to the man she has decided, in his absence, to marry. And the Sergeant has battlefield griefs of his own, which remain hidden for a long time. Alone in his room, he goes through violent convulsions, throwing his body around in rage, which Foster turns into prolonged, wordless arias. By degrees, he and the filmmakers ease this man back into life. Tony may be unable to survive outside the Army, but Will is by nature a civilian. He begins responding to people, talking, opening himself up to feelings. Tony, he realizes, is a damaged man but means him no harm, and they become quarrelling, roistering friends. The Captain starts drinking again, and the booze and the men’s own kind of mad horseplay get them through the job. Along the way, “The Messenger” offers one of the most shrewdly perceptive portraits of military men to have appeared in American movies since such classics as “From Here to Eternity” and “The Last Detail.”
On the first day of the partnership, Tony establishes the drill: stick to polite but formal announcements. Don’t hug anyone; don’t get involved. The movie was shot in suburban New Jersey, where the men stiffly approach modest wood-frame houses. They make six calls in all, spread throughout the movie, and the response to each is different. Disbelief, fury, violence, breakdowns, numb acceptance—every emotion that you might expect is there. Watching this, of course, puts us in a morally ambivalent position: our neighbors’ troubles have been turned into theatre. The way people respond to tragedy has a prurient interest for outsiders, but art transcends mere fascination. Moverman doesn’t flinch from emotions, but he doesn’t sensationalize them, either, and his full-bore sympathy is infinitely superior to a real-life documentary approach, which would truly be an invasion. By the end, like spectators at a Greek tragedy, we feel more like participants than like voyeurs. We want to see more of these people, not less.
In violation of every Army rule, Will becomes attached to Olivia (Samantha Morton), the white widow of an African-American soldier, who has a young son. Moverman lets many of the scenes play at length, drawing us into the moment-by-moment shifts in mood; the scenes between Harrelson and Foster are all superb, but the movie’s pulse slackens a bit when Morton is allowed to hold the camera too long. Morton was passive and mute in Woody Allen’s “Sweet and Lowdown”; she was one of the seers floating in water in Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report.” She’s a little vague, as if she were always floating. Moverman would have done better to cast a more overtly sexual actress—Amy Ryan, say, or Vera Farmiga. But even this misstep is the product of respect for the characters, who need to slowly figure out what to do with their lives. “The Messenger” joins the group of strong Iraq-war movies that, like rejected suitors, stand hat in hand, waiting for an audience to notice their virtues. (My canon includes “In the Valley of Elah,” “The Hurt Locker,” and the commercially conceived but affecting “Stop-Loss.”) Box-office wisdom holds that it’s too early to make movies about this conflict, but how can it ever be too early to make a good movie?
Posts: 27362 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: February 02, 2003
I was not one of those who said Michebel was wrong on this particular film but would still like to say the more highly positive reviews come out the more it seems like a possible Oscar contender. I still think it is too small to be amongst the most likely best picture or best actor contenders. Yet the reviews make me think it is in the running. I do think a best supporting actor nom for Woody Harrelson, especially as that category is fairly wide open, and screenplay nominations are more likely. Maybe Samantha Morton for supporting actress as well though that category is more competitive.
Posts: 27362 | Location: Phoenix, AZ | Registered: February 02, 2003
The Village Voice/LA Weekly doesn't have a full review (they have 4-5 each week, with the rest of the film relegated to a briefer write up. This is what they have for The Messenger - strange, since it's favorable. Their main critics (J. Hoberman of the Voice, Scott Foundas and Ella Taylor of the Weekly) must have not felt it was worth a full review:
I'm Not There screenwriter Oren Moverman makes his directorial debut with The Messenger, a moving and nuanced drama about the home-front readjustment period for decorated Iraq War hero Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) who, after surviving a roadside blast, has been reassigned as a Casualty Notification Officer. He is partnered with self-proclaimed lunatic Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), a dogged Army lifer and semi-recovering alcoholic whose only support system is military etiquette. Together, they deliver the worst news to fallen soldiers' next of kin, and for Will, the volatile (and largely improvised) reactions from those left behind pick at his own emotional scabs. Some might duck and cover at a premise so grim, but Moverman and co-writer Alessandro Camon's top-notch script is loaded with authentic compassion and charm—even unlikely sucker punches of humor. Foster appropriately underplays, while Harrelson, never over the top, nails his showier role. The film is obviously about coping with griefor not knowing how toact as illustrated in a slightly overcooked subplot about a newly widowed woman (Samantha Morton) Will tries to woo. But what really resonates is the complex tale of camaraderie between two men whose only hope of avoiding self-destruction is to let down their guard which is, of course, against protocol.
Originally posted by pacinofan: I was not one of those who said Michebel was wrong on this particular film but would still like to say the more highly positive reviews come out the more it seems like a possible Oscar contender. I still think it is too small to be amongst the most likely best picture or best actor contenders. Yet the reviews make me think it is in the running. I do think a best supporting actor nom for Woody Harrelson, especially as that category is fairly wide open, and screenplay nominations are more likely. Maybe Samantha Morton for supporting actress as well though that category is more competitive.
In the back of my mind, I also felt that Woody Harrelson in particular, has a grain of a chance, particularly during the Critics circuit. Couple that with the success of Zombieland, which doesnt hurt him. Harrelson is my kind of guy; I personally would love to see him get critical attention for his work.
Posts: 14012 | Location: canada | Registered: December 22, 2005
Good sign for The Messenger that I haven't seen mentioned here - it had a front page NY Times Arts & Leisure section article last Sunday. That likely suggests at least a favorable review there this Friday, perhaps more.
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Originally posted by pacinofan: I was not one of those who said Michebel was wrong on this particular film but would still like to say the more highly positive reviews come out the more it seems like a possible Oscar contender. I still think it is too small to be amongst the most likely best picture or best actor contenders. Yet the reviews make me think it is in the running. I do think a best supporting actor nom for Woody Harrelson, especially as that category is fairly wide open, and screenplay nominations are more likely. Maybe Samantha Morton for supporting actress as well though that category is more competitive.
I wouldn't count Morton out completely. She seems unlikely, but is clearly respected and liked as she has gotten two fairly surprising nominations already.
I do agree thought that Harrelson seems most likely if anything.
Interestingly for me at least, I have not really be interested in "Iraq War movies" for the past few years - Stop-Loss may be the only one I have seen. Now this year I find myself very interested in this, The Hurt Locker, and Brothers, as well as the first Gulf War-centric Men Who Stare At Goats.
A B+ review from Owen Gleiberman in ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY...
In The Messenger, Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), a tight-lipped young sergeant who served heroically in Iraq, is given a new duty that, in some ways, causes him more pain than being on the front lines did. Assigned to the Army's Casualty Notification service, he must now show up at the homes of fallen soldiers and deliver the bad news to their relatives. His new partner, Capt. Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), is a hard-living, tough-nut veteran who goes at this task with a devotion that's respectful and also slightly fanatical. Tony always utters the right bureaucratic phrases, in the right forcefully neutral tone, to the right people (no one, ever, but the next of kin).
When we first see them enter someone's house, to inform a woman that her son has been killed, she reacts hysterically, with a wail of tears and denial, and then slaps Tony in the face — a shocking moment, because it slaps the audience, too. Oren Moverman, who directed and co-wrote The Messenger, doesn't guard his characters; their distress comes ripping off the screen. It becomes a wake-up call to those of us for whom the Iraq war has, too often, seemed a numbing series of television images, with death relegated to a background statistic. The Messenger honors those who fought and died in Iraq by acting out, with an anguished handheld immediacy, how large each of those sacrifices really is.
Moverman, the co-screenwriter of Todd Haynes' I'm Not There, was born and raised in Israel, where he served in the infantry for four years. Watching The Messenger, you feel his bone-deep knowledge of the joshing camaraderie, testy defense mechanisms, and hidden guilt of soldiers. Hanging out in bars between assignments, the quiet, chivalrous Will and the rowdy, womanizing Tony don't like each other, but the job forces them to watch each other's backs. The movie is about the mess of private feelings our soldiers carry around with them. Foster, arrestingly implosive, plays Will as quietly undone by his war memories; he can't see what he did — only what he failed to do. And Harrelson gives Tony an electric dark-hearted vitality and rage. The Messenger could have used more shape as a story. Will's involvement with a soldier's widow is a ****y breach of protocol, but almost too courtly, and Samantha Morton plays this woman with her usual virtuoso drabness. Yet there's nothing drab about the tormented place these men take each other to. You'll want to go along. B+
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