The Messenger

I had never heard of this film until it popped up in my Netflix suggestions, but based on the description (and a small crush on Ben Foster) I decided it seemed entirely worth watching. Now, everyone's seen movies where a soldier or police officer or firefghter dies and two ominous men in uniform show up on their family's doorstep to relay the bad news. This is the movie about those two men.

The Gist Of The Movie:
Ben Foster plays Sgt. Will Montgomery, an injured war hero with three months left to serve, who is assigned to be a Casualty Notification Officer. The officer training him in his new duties is Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) who has been doing this job for a long enough time to have it down to a science. The two men form a friendship as they carry out their duties and discuss their different views on life and military service. After notifying one woman of her husband's death Montgomery can't seem to forget her and begins a tentative relationship with her, which Stone strongly advises him against. Much emotional turmoil ensues.

What I Think:
The acting in this movie is superb. Ben Foster looks genuinely upset when he sees people crying, while Woody Harrelson seems like he doesn't care at all. Even the smallest roles of parents who are notified of the deaths of their children or people learning of the death of their spouse was completely engrossing. At no point in the film did I laugh at fake crying (although I did laugh at fake puking because the man's name, ironically, was Ralph) because at no point in the film did it feel fake. The audience is just another CNO, knocking on the door of someone who has no idea what's coming, and getting a one minute glimpse into the lives of people they don't know. The question the film raised in my mind is: do you want to know them? You want them to be okay, I mean, it's only human to empathize with them and to want to help. On the other hand, that's not the job, and it would only make things harder. I guess your best bet in that line of work would be to shut out their pain and concentrate on the task at hand, getting through your little speech and ignoring whatever reaction you receive. That's clearly what Captain Stone has learned to do, but we the audience are more like Ben Foster, we're new to this and can't help being sympathetic toward the families. Furthermore, we feel the same ethical conflict as Foster when he begins a relationship with the widow. Is this wrong? Is he taking advantage of her grief or does he understand better than anyone else possibly could? It just sort of gives you this awkward, uneasy feeling when the two of them are together.

The movie (while it probably sounds it) isn't entirely depressing, there is a lighter side in the friendship that develops between Foster and Harrelson. There's humor where there can be, but you definitely won't find yourself calling this one a comedy. But if you're into movies that are emotionally driven and nothing explodes, this could be one for you.