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Movies / Upcoming / The Messenger
The Messenger

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The Messenger (2009)

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Reviews Counted:58

Fresh:52

Rotten:6

Average Rating:7.3/10

Consensus: A dark but timely subject is handled deftly by writer/directer Owen Moverman and superbly acted by Woody Harrleson and Ben Foster.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language and some sexual content/nudity

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Nov 13, 2009 Limited

Box Office: $167,346

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,... 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, Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.

Featuring tour-de-force performances from Foster, Harrelson and Morton, and a brilliant directorial debut by Moverman, THE MESSENGER brings us into the inner lives of these outwardly steely heroes to reveal their fragility with compassion and dignity. --© Oscilloscope
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Starring: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone

Starring: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker, Steve Buscemi

Director: Oren Moverman

Director: Oren Moverman
Screenwriter: Oren Moverman, Alessandro Camon
Producer: Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zach Miller
Composer: Nathan Larson
Studio: Oscilloscope Pictures

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Reviews for The Messenger

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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The Messenger delivers what it has to say without sensationalism or political posturing. That restraint, along with the quality of the performances, makes it all the more powerful.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
11/24/09
Bill Goodykoontz
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic

A story that strays about without finding its center.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
11/11/09
David Germain
David Germain
Associated Press
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of the rare movies that communicates honestly and artfully about the real casualties of war: the surviving combatants.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
11/20/09
Marjorie Baumgarten
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle

Many scenes in The Messenger feel merely illustrative, not designed to develop characters and story so much as to make the point, over and over, that the home front can be as harrowing as the front lines.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
11/12/09
Noel Murray
Noel Murray
AV Club

A forcefully acted and peculiar emotional drama...

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
11/24/09
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Director Oren Moverman’s feature-length debut is a little like The Hurt Locker in the way it uncomfortably probes a little-known military organelle.

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
11/19/09
Shaula Clark
Shaula Clark
Boston Phoenix

Although Hollywood has dealt with the war from various perspectives, Moverman’s film offers a new angle that brings the horrors home about the decision to go to war.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
10/08/09
Richard Mowe
Richard Mowe
Boxoffice Magazine

Whenever writer-director Oren Moverman moves past these scattered and admittedly voyeuristic moments into the lives of the two soldiers, the movie drifts into received wisdom and unconvincing romance.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
11/25/09
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader

The Messenger knows that even if it tells a tearjerking story, it doesn't have to be a tearjerker. In fact, when a sad story tries too hard, it can be fatal.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
11/19/09
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Some jobs are dirtier than others, and after seeing director and co-writer Oren Moverman’s beautifully acted new film The Messenger, you’ll be better acquainted with some of the most grueling work a human being can be called upon to perform.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
11/20/09
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It brings home the horror of the Iraq war in a way that much of our TV news media have failed to do.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
11/20/09
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor

This character piece may be for the arthouse, but the artistry has a gaping wound, large enough to allow credulity to seep out.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
11/17/09
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals

...a poignant tale of redemption that counts as one of the very best films of the year.

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
11/12/09
Todd Gilchrist
Todd Gilchrist
Cinematical

No quote available.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
11/12/09
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

A fine bookend to Katheryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker, showing another side of how the war at home can be just as rigorous as the one abroad.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
11/14/09
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

Intelligent, graceful, and touching filmmaking.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
11/12/09
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Common Sense Media

A well-performed example of male bonding in the army.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
11/03/09
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

The beauty in Foster's portrayal is that it never completely explodes, but anger and aching seethe behind his eyes. Harrelson, meanwhile, is a good old boy with a bad old job.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
11/25/09
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

What could have been a grim, depressing Iraq war drama of two men who deliver dreaded news becomes in Moverman's promising debut a human tale of grief and survival, balancing grave issues with humor, underlined by strong acting from Foster and Harrelson

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
10/24/09
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

The Messenger honors those who fought and died in Iraq by acting out, with an anguished handheld immediacy, how large each of those sacrifices really is.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
11/11/09
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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