cinemadaily | “The Messenger” Spreads the Word in the US

In Variety, Peter Debruge situates the film within the larger genre of Iraq War films, “Joining such recent Iraq War films as ‘Grace Is Gone’ and ‘The Lucky Ones’ in addressing combat’s toll on the homefront, ‘The Messenger’ manages to be both practical and patriotic in the same breath, zeroing in on one of the most painful aspects of wartime…Though much of the film focuses on their off hours, the episodes of the two officers at work prove challenging. Such scenes of sudden grief are familiar to most auds (the mother collapsing in her doorway in ‘Saving Private Ryan’), but ‘The Messenger’ views the exchange from the p.o.v. of the men tasked with breaking the news. Montgomery has a difficult time standing by during these encounters (featuring strong, brief appearances by actors such as Steve Buscemi)—and in the case of Morton’s Army wife, he goes back to check up on her, an admirable sensitivity complicated by a highly inappropriate sexual attraction.”

In The Hollywood Reporter, Justin Lowe focuses on Moverman’s style, “Already an experienced screenwriter, debut director Oren Moverman’s intense two-hander endeavors to focus exclusively on the home front and perhaps avoid the quagmire of issues surrounding other Iraq-related films. But the war is constantly in the background, from Montgomery’s combat wounds and frequent episodes of PTSD-induced rage to Stone’s remorse over never having seen action…Moverman adopts a functional directing style that gives full rein to the actors’ impressive performances, although the widescreen image draws unflattering attention to some of the more subjective Steadicam sequences.”

Marshall Fine‘s review on the Huffington Post hopes that the film does not get lost in the mix like other Iraq War films, “virtually every film about Iraq - good, bad, fiction and documentary - has died a miserable death in theaters. I tend to think it has less to do the movies’ flaws or merits and more to do with a national sense of shame and denial - at allowing ourselves to be suckered by George W. Bush and his ruthless shills into supporting the quagmire/fiasco.  It will be too bad if that same fate awaits Oren Moverman’s The Messenger, as powerful and restrained a drama as you could wish for. Iraq is a presence but it’s never shown. Indeed, this is a drama that could have used any war as its context and made the same point: that all war ends tragically for too many, no matter what the objective or outcome.”