Salina Art Center

There are many facets of warfare, and actual combat is only one of them. The battlefield is like the tip of the iceberg: it’s the visible portion that appears above the ocean’s surface, while more than two-thirds of the conflict is submerged and invisible. The best films always seek out the hidden facets of life and politics, society and conflict. The Messenger, a hard-hitting debut from director Oren Moverman, is such a film. It’s about the conflict in Iraq and war in general, but not from the perspective of the combatants or civilians killed in battle. It focuses on the home front, specifically the task of going to the homes of strangers and delivering the toughest message anyone can deliver: someone you love has been killed in action. It’s difficult to imagine how army officers whose sole job is to deliver this message can cope with the accumulated emotional stress. Some of them, like Capt. Tony Stone in Moverman’s film, must take refuge in “protocol,” delivering their message as unemotionally and scripted as possible, never personalizing it or attempting to make a connection with the families they visit. As Capt. Stone, Woody Harrelson provides a performance beyond what’s been called upon to do as an actor in the past—and he meets the challenge, creating a believably withdrawn, repressed individual whose humanity dies a little bit every time he delivers the same sad message. Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) serves as an empathetic counterpoint to Capt. Stone; Montgomery’s a wounded vet serving out the remainder of his tour by accompanying Stone on his visits. Though Stone has never seen physical combat, it’s clear that he’s as wounded emotionally as soldiers like Montgomery are physically. But in due time, Montgomery’s natural sensitivity will be stretched to the breaking point by his new assignment. His girlfriend Kelly (Jena Malone), who was unfaithful to him while he was in Iraq, offers no solace. Two different people they visit add further stress to both Montgomery and Stone: they are Olivia (Samantha Morton), whose husband has been killed, and Dale Martin (Steve Buscemi), who reacts with anger and bitterness upon learning of his son’s death. When Montgomery happens to meet Olivia later, a tentative romance ensues—but it’s built on a weak foundation, created by their mutual grief and loneliness. Moverman has an understanding of the military mind and the pressures that soldiers face, having seen combat while serving in the Israeli army. He has also written intriguing scripts for the quixotic Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There and the harrowing drug addiction drama Jesus’ Son; he’s clearly interested in understanding the psychology of characters who are alienated, sometimes damaged individuals. Co-writing The Messenger with Alessandro Camon, Moverman does an amazing job creating characters that seem ready to explode with bottled-up rage and pain. This tension makes The Messenger compelling rather than depressing, despite the subject matter. And audiences are encouraged to ponder whose approach to an impossible assignment is the best: Stone’s seemingly callous, willful detachment, or Montgomery’s emotional openness and natural desire to comfort those he must hurt. The performances are universally excellent, but Harrelson’s performance is awe-inspiring. The transformation has progressed from his lovably naïve bumpkin from the television show Cheers, through his broadly Southern, seedy and shifty-eyed characters in films like The People vs. Larry Flynt and No Country for Old Men, and ends here with a performance of quiet intensity that seems effortless and unaffected—Harrelson inhabits the skin of this character, justifying the recent talk of Oscar possibilities. His Capt. Stone is already one of the most indelible military “heroes” that films have produced, and he makes The Messenger one of the most powerful statements about war ever made—without visiting the battlefield. 

Featuring tour-de-force performances from Foster, Harrelson and Morton, and a brilliant directorial debut by Oren Moverman, The Messenger brings us into the inner lives of these outwardly steely heroes to reveal their fragility with compassion and dignity.