Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster star in The Messenger.Bearing bad news
By Don Simpson
After recovering from wounds inflicted during a tour of duty in Iraq, the heroically decorated Will (Ben Foster) is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification Office. Will’s superior officer, Tony (Woody Harrelson), is a recovering alcoholic carrying other apparent psychological baggage as well. When Will befriends Olivia (Samantha Morton), a next of kin of a killed soldier whom they recently notified, Tony and Will’s relationship sours.
The superbly acted film is essentially apolitical in that it opts to focus solely on the effects that war has on the families left behind by killed soldiers and the Army officers who are the first to notify the next of kin.
Director Oren Moverman (co-writer of Jesus' Son and I’m Not There) co-wrote this New Lights Competition film with Alessandro Camon. (Highly Recommended)
(The Messenger is scheduled to screen Nov. 3, 7 p.m., at Mann Chinese Theater 1, 6801 Hollywood Blvd. For more information: 866/AFI-FEST; www.afi.com)
