The Messenger

So, how does one follow up the feel-good family fare of Back to the Future? How bout with a movie about the military men whose job is to visit the families of soldiers killed in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars?

Occasionally, it takes awhile for American movies to matriculate down here to Peru. Usually it is some forgettable romantic comedy or action film that barely registered a blip on the domestic scene and is being shopped around to foreign countries to recoup a few dollars of a budget certainly in the red. The Messenger, which was released in 2009, followed this path but it's unusual we're seeing it so late, given its critical acclaim and the Best Supporting Actor nomination for Woody Harrelson (more on that later).

As I've already mentioned, the movie revolves around the story of two Army servicemen who have been removed from active duty and now visit the families to deliver the dreadful news of a son or daughter being killed in action. During the first half of the movie, we witness several of these visits as heart-wrenching as they are. Emotions spring forward from the families while the Army representatives remain stoic, a task easier for the veteran (Harrelson) than for the newcomer to the job (Ben Foster).

The movie shifts in the second half of the movie and focuses on the relationship between Harrelson and Foster's characters and a relationship between Foster and a widow whose husband was killed in action. The emotional scars that each of the characters bear become apparent to the viewer as they try to maintain their day to day lives.

This was a grim movie covering a grim topic, but it was done so well. The actors-Foster, Harrelson, and Samantha Morton (as the widow)-were superb and really breathed life into the characters, keeping the movie from devolving into a depressing two hour affair. Mind you, it was tough to watch at times but the job done by these fine actors (one scene between Foster and Morton as they make tentative steps towards intimacy was particularly well done) elevated The Messenger.

Before exiting, a word on Woody Harrelson-as mentioned, he was well-deserving of the best supporting actor nomination here, further affirming his strong acting chops. I lost track of the him when he was thrust into feature roles in films such as Natural Born Killers and The People vs. Larry Flynt-those movies just didn't appeal to me. However, in this movie and No Country for Old Men he has played supporting roles that just ratchet up the respective movies. I hope he continues picking up these choice parts in quality flicks, but in the end, I will always think about Harrelson as how we first knew him: