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THE MESSENGER (2009) (***1/2)

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Nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay, this psychological look at the effects of war understands what we feel and what others believe we should feel are completely different sometimes. Returning soldiers deal with this more acutely. Soldiers at war deal with death directly and sometimes often, while civilians see it at a distance until it hits them personally. So how does it feel to be the soldier that has to tell the next of kin about their loved one's death?

Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster, 3:10 TO YUMA) is a returning soldier from Iraq and a decorated war hero. The military has assigned the recovering soldier to deliver death notices for the remainder of his enlistment. He is partnered with Capt. Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson, THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLINT), a recovering alcoholic who served in the first Gulf War. Stone's single-mindedly adheres to the military manual on giving notice. He doesn't want any confusion like the time a solider told a next of kin, or NOK, that their son was no longer with us and his mother thought he had defected.

Stone has a method to delivering the bad news. He doesn't park close to the house, because he doesn't want the NOK to see them approach and suffer that extra minute while they walk to the door. He knocks, never rings the bell, because fancy rings throw him off. You give the news to the NOK only, not their fiancée or a neighbor. The job is an in-and-out mission. You never linger. And never, under any circumstances, do you ever touch the NOK.

Montgomery's first assignment goes as bad as it could. Still, he's determined to give the news on the next one himself. Dale Martin (Steve Buscemi, FARGO) is furious when he sees them show up at his door. He takes his anger out on them, wondering why they're still alive and his son is dead. Then they have an odd experience with Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton, MINORITY REPORT), who is fairly calm about their arrival and essentially wants the two officers to leave.

Stone is convinced that Pitterson is banging some other guy because of her reaction. Montgomery sees something else. A wounded woman perhaps? He begins following her and incrementally begins to help her where he can. Her young son Matt (Jahmir Duran-Abreau) is very standoffish to this new soldier popping up in their lives. His reasons might be more complex than they first seem. Montgomery is struggling himself with the soldier-civilian love problems. When he went off to war, he broke up with his high school sweetheart Kelly (Jena Malone, SAVED!). They still have passion for each other, but she is now engaged to be married.

The term, hero, is thrown around a lot. Montgomery struggles with that distinction being put on him. He's supposed to feel good about what he's done, but he's just angry. Foster gives the character his usual intensity mixed with tenderness. He is a kind man who wants to help people, but also struggles with deep rage. Harrelson's Oscar nominated turn as Stone is a complex performance. He's a lifer in the army. He struggles with his legacy at war. When you want something so badly and things don't turn out as you planned, it's hard to deal with it all. He's a bit of a wild man who uses the military's rigidity to keep himself in line. That wild energy pops out when his uniform is off, which gives the film a nice dose of humor. His beeper rings out a death march when he gets a new call. Morton brings a flood of conflicting emotions to Pitterson. We feel her struggle and how war has touched her. There are some things worse than death.

This marks an extremely strong directorial debut for Oren Moverman, who wrote JESUS' SON and I'M NOT THERE. Along with co-writer Alessandro Camon, he dedicates his story to the characters and not the plot. He is unafraid to go where the characters need to go without following standard plot structure. In the process, he keeps us guessing about where the story is going and how Montgomery will ultimately handle his return home.

Montgomery and Stone are tasked with a great burden. Stone tries to use cold military protocol to distance himself from the reality of his mission. But protocol cannot change that they are men who could have easily been on the other side of the news they are giving to loved ones. But who would cry for them? Soldiers have a hard time relating to civilians and visa versa. That's their new battle. If they're lucky they'll have someone by their side.

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Rick DeMott
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