Somewhere inside Oren Moverman’s (Time Out of Mind, Rampart), The Messenger is a pretty good movie. It has the right tone. It has the right cast. It has the right setting. It has the right director. It just has the wrong plot. Well, I shouldn’t say it has the wrong plot, but I should say that the plot is a bit flawed. And it’s not even faulty so much as it is incongruent. It follows a timeline that we are uncertain of. Does this movie take place over a few weeks, a few months, a little bit more, or somewhere in between. It’s an integral part of the story to know the movie’s time frame because it helps us justify or not justify some of the actions of its characters. The longer the period that this movie takes place, the more likely it is for me to believe the story. The shorter it is, the less likely I am. The reason for this is the characters change too much. And I am not saying people can’t change over a short period, but it seems a stretch for all characters to change how they did in that brief period. But the time frame is never stated. It is implied to be three months, but it isn’t conclusive. For me, it doesn’t help the movie. It leaves me with the burning question of when to go from start to finish.
Ben Foster (Leave No Trace, Hell or High Water) is an Iraq War veteran. We meet him shortly after he barely escapes being killed in combat. With three months left of his tour, he receives a placing in the Casualty Notification Office, where he, along with another soldier, travels to the house of a soldier killed in war and informs his/her next of kin that their son/daughter, husband/wife, etc. have been killed in action. This is not a job for just anybody. Right away, we should wonder why Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Foster) was assigned this duty with just a short period left before he was released from the military and back into civilian life. This seems like a job requiring a lot of training to do correctly. Still, Will receives instruction from shaved-to-the-skin haircut and chiseled chin Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Glass Castle) over breakfast at a diner and a quick car ride. As a side note, Will was injured in the leg and had trouble with his vision. Either of these could have been better played into the story, especially the eyes. We know he has difficulty seeing and has to take special drops, but it feels like there was supposed to be something more here.
Before their first assignment, Tony gives Will the handbook and tells him to memorize it. If it seems like this is one of Harrelson’s rougher and tougher roles that we’ve grown accustomed to in recent years, it’s because it is. He’s the type of guy you don’t want to disappoint and don’t want to disobey. A recovering alcoholic, Tony has been sober for three years. We don’t learn how many former partners he has had in the Casualty Notification Office. Nor do we learn if Will is his first rookie partner. Nor do we know what has happened to his past partners. Tony is more of a mystery than Will, but that doesn’t mean we don’t get to know him. He’s the character I’m referring to in my first paragraph when I say that who we have at the beginning of the movie is a far cry from who we have at the end of the film.
We see the pair go to a few houses over a few days. This movie could have been a severe tearjerker, but that wasn’t how it was presented. And that was a good thing. The Messenger had the presence of being a by-the-books military movie, but of course, it’s going to veer off course a little bit. Otherwise, it would be downright boring and better served as a documentary. We have rich characters here who are imperfect and flawed, who become increasingly imperfect and flawed as the movie progresses.
Will and Tony follow strict rules when notifying the next of kin. They are to only talk to the person on record. They have details for entrance and exit. They have procedures for various scenarios that may arise when a grieving person is dealing with the absolute worst news a person can receive. The dramatics are certainly there but don’t detract from the focus. The camera retreats to the looks on Will and Tony’s faces as they witness the same action that we are seeing.
One of the rules is not to have physical contact with them. Another is to see the people you are delivering the news to again, only if it’s accidental. But Will feels emotion with each encounter that Tony doesn’t feel or has pushed so far back in his trajectory through years of exposure that there is no chance of it shining through again. At one particular notification, Will becomes drawn to a widow (Samantha Morton – The Harvest, Minority Report) who he and Tony already suspect was cheating on the deceased soldier (there was a man’s article of clothing when she was hanging up clothes on the clothesline outside of her house). Fast-forward to Will almost stalking her at the local shopping mall, and soon after that, a gentle, cautious romance develops between the two. And this isn’t just to show Will is attracted to the hurting, pretty women, but to show that Will draws close to those who are hurting, time and time again.
Of course, this becomes a source of conflict between Will and Tony, but with every brush-up, the two seem to gather more respect for one another. If it does not respect, then at least it is understanding where each man is coming from. But for better or worse, through it all, these are two military men who have each other’s backs.
The Messenger is highlighted by the performances of its two leads, a tone that isn’t overly melodramatic, and a structure that keeps a heavy topic from getting too heavy while giving it its due respect. But the movie is bogged down by some plot inconsistencies, a timeline that I wish was more straightforward to understand, and characters who change too much and too quickly. Nevertheless, ultimately, it is a good movie and a recommendation.
Plot 9.5/10
Character Development 8.5/10
Character Chemistry 9/10
Acting 9/10
Screenplay 8/10
Directing 8/10
Cinematography 8/10
Sound 8/10
Hook and Reel 9/10
Universal Relevance 9/10
86%
B+
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