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Capsule review: ‘The Messenger’
One does not need to witness battles on the screen to understand the horrors of war, as evidenced by screenwriter Oren Moverman’s (“I’m Not There”) incredible directorial debut, “The Messenger.”
Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) has returned from the war in Iraq a decorated hero, but with multiple injuries, he must serve out the final three months of his tour. Relegated to the bleak and thankless work of casualty notification, Montgomery must visit families who have lost a loved one in the theater. His robotic commanding officer, Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), explains to the disciplined soldier that his new job is about “character” and one that must be done “before you can understand it.”
Reeling from the loss of his girlfriend he left behind to go serve his country, and haunted by the vivid images of war, Montgomery’s sole companion is a pager that goes off at all hours to alert him to his latest assignment. Throughout the movie, its piercing beep acts as a sword of Damocles hanging over his head, an audible device that leaves the audience on the same edge as the soldier.
As Montgomery and Stone enter each residence to notify families of their tragic loss, the camera enters behind them, offering the soldiers’ perspective on this horrible journey of endurance and duty, as they gut-wrenchingly deliver news that will forever change the lives of the people they visit.
Montgomery battles to reconcile his humanity with the emotional detachment required of the job, a function that Stone has assimilated so deeply that he seems to have no connection with his fellow man. As the cold relationship between commanding officer and his charge softens, Stone begins to reevaluate his understanding of war, people and himself.
Montgomery finds a kindred spirit in the form of Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton), a grieving military widow and mother of one, who is trying to come to terms with the death of her husband, a man whose soul she felt had already been lost to the brutality of life at war.
The script, co-written by Alessandro Camon, offers a loose framework for a movie that features some amazing improvisational work by the actors. The movie unfolds slowly and organically, with lengthy scenes that allow the open wounds of its characters to breathe, as they attempt to repair themselves organically.
Harrelson and Foster are outstanding in roles that should garner both of them Academy Award nominations. The relationship between these two men both dealing with their service and sacrifice in different ways, shifts seamlessly from adversarial to fraternal. While its subject manner is dark and discomfiting at times, the movie has a warmth, robust humor, and eventually, a hopefulness that left me moved unlike any movie I have seen in years.
Moverman and his cast and crew have created a stirring masterpiece that allows the viewer to inhabit a world we almost never see, and reveals the endurance of the human spirit and our need to find solace, love and fellowship in our fellow man even when we feel most isolated.
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