The Messenger
When I’ve been asked about this film pre-viewing, my stock answer was that it was about two soldiers (played by Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson) who have the responsibility of telling next of kin that their loved one has passed away in combat.
Now I know better. It’s not just about the two men but how such a devastating responsibility takes a toll on their own lives. The script by Alessandro Camon and director Oren Moverman (in an impressive debut) is sparse but beautifully crafted to reveal the unexpected that comes out of life lived.
This is never more evident than in the scenes where Foster’s Will and Harrelson’s Tony go to the houses of NOK to break the news. Tony knows the routine by heart, and has learned several simple but effective rules to proceed by (never touch the NOK, and never get involved in their lives), but you can still feel his humanity come out in scenes involving a father (the extraordinary Steve Buscemi) whose grief fuels his rage, and in a latter encounter when family drama gets set aside when tragedy strikes.
Will has a hard time accepting Tony’s streamlined and almost mechanical approach, especially when a now-single mother (Samantha Morton, wonderful as always) reacts in a way that neither of them see coming. The bond he strikes with her is tenuous in where it could lead and dangerous in what it could say about both parties. She could be seen as not feeling grief for her husband, while he (who lost his longtime love Kelly- played by Jena Malone- to another man as he was in Iraq) could be seen as using her grief as a way in. Morton and Foster (who plays Will’s arc with sympathy and intensity) are both excellent at hitting all the right notes of unease and need these characters feel for each other.
But Harrelson- who in the last three months has played over the top (too much so personally) in “2012” and tough mf’er in “Zombieland” in addition to his more shaded work here- is the actor you won’t soon forget in this movie. A Desert Storm vet and recovering alcoholic, it’s hard to get beneath Tony’s rough persona at first, but it’s not until the wheels come off between he and Will that we start to see the fragility behind Tony’s swagger, when a trip off the wagon leads to frightening consequences that will test both men’s character in much the same way their responsibilities in their job does. This is Harrelson’s finest two hours onscreen, and his sometimes heartbreaking probing of Tony’s character is the life force that makes “The Messenger” that much more important. You feel like you’re a part of these people’s lives, and you care when they hurt, and are grateful when they find their way again.
