The Messenger

Interesting, very interesting. I've definitely never seen a movie like this before. Ben Foster, the creepy guy from 3:10 to Yuma and Angel from X-Men, plays a war hero who spends the last 3 months of his commitment delivering the bad news that a soldier has died to their families. It's heart wrenching. This movie has some of the most honest portrayals of raw human emotion that I've ever seen in a movie. Steve Buscemi, one of the most underrated actors around, is fantastic in his small role as a grieving father who spits on Foster and calls him a coward upon hearing the news that his son is dead. Equally raw showings of disastrous grief come from a few people I didn't recognize with empty IMDB profiles. A mother and a pregnant girlfriend screaming in agony. A father comforting his daughter after hearing that her husband, whom he didn't know that she'd married, as she shrieks and sobs uncontrollably. It's really hard to watch. Woody Harrelson is very, very good. He plays Foster's recovering, or not so recovering alcoholic, senior officer on the delivery squad. He's this hardened Desert Storm vet who's dedication to procedure overruns Foster's unspoken desire to treat the NOK's (what Harrelson calls the next of kin) like they're humans. Harrelson's a tough actor to peg. The weird Tallahassee in Zombieland, a blind eye-transplant recipient in Seven Pounds, a hitman in No Country for Old Men, a weird cross dresser in Anger Management, a hook handed bowler in Kingpin, a baller in White Men Can't Jump. There are very few actors who's catalogs go from the outrageously absurd to the deathly serious so quickly. In this movie, his obvious depression causes him to manically cycle from on top of the world, to crying drunk on Foster's couch in his last scene in the movie.

But after all that great writing and acting theres some pretty unnecessary, forced romance between Foster and someone named Samantha Morton who's acting repertoire's most recognizable performance is as the voice of Ruby on the kids show Max & Ruby from back in 2002. It's pretty unnecessary to the crux of the story. Morton plays the wife of a soldier who Harrelson and Foster bring the news to. All of a sudden Foster's in love with her. It's weird. It comes out of no where and serves no real purpose. It's a pretty serious detractor, unfortunately. The movie ends as she and her son are packing up a UHaul to move to Louisiana and Foster comes over to help. They start walking into the house so Foster can "give her his address" (a new euphemism maybe?). I don't know. It was a pretty lame ending. I liked it though, overall. It's worth taking a look at. And it's up for a couple Oscars so for that reason alone it deserves at least some respect.