LITTLE ROCK — Intimate, emotionally intelligent and politically restrained, Oren Moverman’s directorial debut The Messenger is a stunningly sad and sobering movie about the inevitable personal costs of national bellicosity. Impressively acted and economically directed, it could be seen as a kind of love story between two hard men thrown together on a difficult mission - notifying the next of kin of soldiers killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Capt. Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) follows the rules: Stick to the script, do not touch, hug or otherwise attempt to comfort the bereaved beyond the prescribed statement of regret on behalf of the secretary of defense. Above all, maintain a military bearing throughout the process no matter how violently the notice is received. It is your duty to inform; someone will be along later to talk with them about arrangements and opportunities for counseling.
He’s breaking in a new partner, Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), a decorated combat veteran serving out the last three months of his enlistment. Montgomery was wounded overseas. He frequently treats his injured eye with drops and his hurt soul with metal core and alcohol. He was looking forward to serving out his enlistment stateside in a less stressful capacity than tagging along with an Army lifer, ringing doorbells to deliver heart-shattering news.
Will knows about receiving disappointing news; his girlfriend Kelly (Jena Malone) quit him for another guy when he shipped out. Well, she didn’t quit him completely, but now she’s engaged. She’s obviously conflicted, the Will who came back from the war is angrier and more fragile - he’s suffering and probably incapable of handling any sort of adult relationship. It might be better for both of them if she were less kind, if she could somehow acquire the same kind of expedient cruelty - the same kind of discipline - required of the notification team.
But neither Kelly nor a tentative quasi-romance Will begins with a new war widow(Samantha Morton) is at the center of this story. It’s more about the unspoken profundities that pass between Capt. Stone and Staff Sgt. Montgomery - between Tony and Will - as they go out on their missions in berets and ties, driving ordinary vehicles on ordinary American streets, trying to keep themselves hidden until the last second in order to spare their targets a few seconds of dreadful anticipation.
It’s about the ways decent, damaged people try to fit themselves into an untenable world, trying to make things easier for others. And maybe for themselves.
MovieStyle, Pages 37 on 01/22/2010