Review of The Messenger (2009) by Dawdlingpoet — 22 Nov 2021

This film reminded me a little of a TV film called 'Resting Place', which I very much liked. It focusses primarily on the perhaps somewhat stereotyped(?) macho masculine persona of the American army/military, in the form of Captain Tony Stone (played by Woody Harrelson. Harrelson is an actor I am generally quite keen on - his presence made me more curious to see it) having to supervise and train staff sergeant Will Montgomery (played by Ben Foster) in relaying the tragic loss of a loved one to their next of kin, in a very specific, no-frills, procedural way. Steve Buscemi is also in the cast, playing a relative of alot fighter called Dale Martin and Samantha Morton gives a solid performance as Olivia Pitterson. I also like films with a moral/ethical aspect to it, which this does have. I found some of the plot details frustrating, certainly not in terms of believability, sadly, more so in terms of what it's shining a light on. It's an understandably sobering watch, not a war based action thriller but in terms of the themes and realities depicted. I won't go into any additional level of detail, for obvious spoiler reasons.

The acting is good and its certainly a thought provoking watch, so I'd recommend it on that basis.