Synopsis
Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant who has returned home from Iraq, is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Montgomery is partnered with Captain Tony Stone, to give notice to the families of fallen soldiers. The Sergeant is drawn to Olivia Pitterson, to whom he has delivered news of her husband’s death.
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Cast
- Ben FosterWill Montgomery
- Woody HarrelsonTony Stone
- Jena MaloneKelly
- Eamonn WalkerStuart Dorsett
- Samantha MortonOlivia Pitterson
- Steve BuscemiDale Martin
- Dale SoulesCashier
- Stevie Ray DallimoreKelly's Father
- Michael ChernusAlan
- Yaya DaCostaMonica Washington
Recommendations
- 90
The New Yorker
This is a fully felt, morally alert, marvellously acted piece of work. Despite the grim subject, it's a sweet-tempered movie, with moments of explosive humor-an entertainment. - 90
The New York Times
No movie can convey the truth of war to those of us who have not lived through it, but The Messenger, precisely by acknowledging just how hard it is to live with that truth, manages to bring it at least partway home. - 88
Rolling Stone
Its truths are personal. It means to shake you. And does. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
There's nothing drab about the tormented place these men take each other to. You'll want to go along. - 80
The Hollywood Reporter
Moverman adopts a functional directing style that gives full rein to the actors' impressive performances. - 80
Variety
Nobody plays angry like Ben Foster, but compassion is something new for the actor, who softens his crazy-man shtick to deliver a complex and moving performance in The Messenger. - 80
Time Out
The movie does an uncommonly sensitive job probing the psychologies of blocked men, less so the urges of a widow who needs more than comforting words. - 80
Village Voice
What really resonates is the complex tale of camaraderie between two men whose only hope of avoiding self-destruction is to let down their guard--which is, of course, against protocol.
