A sobering drama that at its core is a heterosexual love story between two men. To be clear, there's no homoerotic undercurrent here but it's a love story of opposites falling for each other nevertheless.
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02/08/10
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The Messenger (2009)
91
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:95
Fresh:86
Rotten:9
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: A dark but timely subject is handled deftly by writer/directer Owen Moverman and superbly acted by Woody Harrleson and Ben Foster.
Theatrical Release:Nov 13, 2009 Limited
Box Office: $804,307
Synopsis: Co-written by Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon, THE MESSENGER is a powerful and tender story about a returned war hero making his first steps toward a normal life. In his first leading role,... [More]
Starring: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone
Director: Oren Moverman
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Reviews for The Messenger
There isn't a single glimpse of battlefield action in The Messenger, but Foster conveys the intensity of warfare in a long speech revealing how Will was injured.
02/04/10
The Messenger's clipped insight that war is hell is just the sort of line straight from the manual that the film strenuously cautions against.
01/31/10
...a stunningly sad and sobering movie about the inevitable personal costs of national bellicosity.
01/29/10
A film that never forgets those who most feel the pain of loss during a time of war.
01/28/10
The Messenger is the first film from Oren Moverman as a director, and it’s a fine piece of work.
01/27/10
Harrelson gives us layers of hurt under a callous yet needy crust. It may be the best performance of his career and certainly deserves Oscar consideration.
01/27/10
The Messenger is a film about shock and healing. Forget awe. In a world that avoids the realities of war, The Messenger casts a flickering light on some of the human cost of war.
01/24/10
As suspenseful -- in its less-violent way -- as 'The Hurt Locker,' as the soldiers bring their bad news to the homes of unsuspecting family members in a series of devastating vignettes, beautifully wrought by director Oren Moverman.
01/22/10
The Messenger is a worthy companion piece to this year's other movie about the war in the Middle East, Kathryn Bigelow's amazing The Hurt Locker.
01/17/10
With the insight and sensitivity of an insider, The Messenger illuminates the sometimes invisible victims of war -- the survivors -- and a pain that is tolerated but never quite healed.
01/14/10
The Messenger makes it [the death of a soldier] personal. And it is uncomfortable. Well-done movies about the tragedy of war and its impact on ordinary lives are that way.
01/09/10
Well acted, bare-bones look at homefront horror, but it's not quite in the same war league as The Hurt Locker.
01/07/10
Implies without stating, allowing us to understand and interpret the men as we will, without having anything forced down our throats.
01/06/10
Valiantly brings all wars to their ultimate endpoint: death and its effects on the fallen's loved ones.
12/29/09
This is the kind of film people might skip due to the preponderance of war movies out there, or forget in the wake of flashier end-of-the-year output, but The Messenger is one to watch for great performances.
12/29/09
Powerful and resonant, this is a film that asks us to look at the human cost of war. Ben Foster is a revelation.
12/22/09
In an indirect sense, this film is also about the reality of war as opposed to the illusions about war.
12/21/09
An emotionally affecting drama about the birth of compassion in an Iraq war hero assigned to work for the Casualty Notification Office.
12/17/09
Foster is a revelation, while Harrelson has arguably never been better.
12/16/09
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