On the heels of a handful of Academy Award nominations, quiet little Iraq War picture The Messenger will get a second run this week. It’s totally worth seeing:
Will Montgomery (a bulked-up Ben Foster, whose naturally tinny nerd inflection slips through to heart-squeezing effect) is a freshly returned vet, injured in the eyeball, who leads a stark, bare life—unadorned by knickknacks, hobbies, relationships, or purpose. He’s assigned to casualty-notification service with Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson and his greatness and his very weird head) and is put on call, ready to ruin lives at a moment’s notice. Stone trains him with black humor and brutal military efficiency (“You do not touch the NOK”—that stands for next of kin), and the pair trudge around town, glimpsing lives in their most vulnerable moments, then slinking out with impassive stealth. “There’s no such thing as a satisfied customer,” says Stone.
Read my complete review HERE.
