Review of The Messenger (2009) by Alexandra L — 29 Jun 2011

An intensely powerful look at the horrors of war as experienced in soldiers' homelands, particularly by the bereaved and those burdened with the grim task of informing people that their loved ones have died. 'The Messenger' is hardly a buddy movie, but it does largely centre on a male friendship: that between Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), a wounded veteran of the Iraq war, and Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), who becomes Will's immediate superior when heâ(TM)s assigned to the Casualty Notification Team. Montgomery accepts the assignment reluctantly, doubting his aptitude for the job.

Tony Stone initially seems like the archetype of the old-school soldier, drilling into his new partner the need to do everything by the book. They must speak only to the officially designated Next Of Kin, a restriction that is distressingly tested during the first notification we see when the rules forbid that they talk to the pregnant partner of a deceased soldier, even after she's guessed the reason for their presence. They must stick to the Army's version of the 'facts' about the deceased's death, even though the captain admits to Will that the official story may well be a strategic fiction. Finally, they must never, ever touch the bereaved person, however distressed they appear; a stricture that Will finally feel compelled to break in the case of a father who literally collapses to the floor in his grief. Afterwards, Stone is furious about this transgression, but Montgomery's defiant defence of his right to feel some empathy ultimately increases Stones respect for his protà (C)gà (C). They bond through visits to bars, Stone admitting to a booze problem and at first sticking to soft drinks, and then by looking for casual sex, something that the older man is more enthusiastic about; the sergeant pretends to go along with it but doesn't seriously chase any conquests.

The main reason for his restraint is that he's become fascinated by one widow who had an unusually calm reaction to the news of her husband's passing. Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton), though inevitably shocked, retains enough composure to sympathise with the messengers over the difficulty of their job. It's quite a contrast to the consistently well-acted and harrowing episodes we have previously seen by this point in the film, with the bereaved reacting with primal, howling anguish or fury and violence. Captain Stone finds Olivia's demeanour suspicious; Will is touched and impressed, and begins a slightly obsessive and highly transgressive romantic pursuit of the young widow. His professional partner is aware of the growing relationship and inevitably disapproves, but by now Tony and Will are sufficiently good buddies for the captain to refrain from making it a disciplinary matter. However, he does suggest that the two of them get away from it all by going on a fishing and skirt-chasing expedition together, a trip that starts to go wrong when the recovering alcoholic captain takes a heavy fall off the wagon. Is any kind of redemption possible for any of these war-torn souls?

'The Messenger' falls short of masterpiece status because there is some dialogue that doesn't ring true, and a few clichà (C)s in the way the relationship between the two messengers develops. But the three central performances from Foster, Harrelson and Morton are excellent, and Harrelson fully deserves the Oscar nomination he received for his portrayal of a man trying to find a cure for his broken heart in an Army rule book and a succession of bars. There are some tremendous supporting performances too, especially from the actors playing the recipients of the messengers' bad news. Thanks to their talents, this film is often uncomfortable to watch; but it richly rewards the effort.