'Messenger': Military film is privileged glimpse into people's private pain

Two soldiers show up at a suburban home, the door opens and they deliver the awful news: "The secretary of the Army regrets to inform ..."

Someone is dead -- a son or daughter, a husband or wife -- and the person hearing those words has to go through a rapid process of shock and disbelief, ending finally in the realization that the dreaded thing is happening. This is the nightmare for anyone with a loved one serving in the military.

"The Messenger" is a drama shot with the simplicity and immediacy of a documentary. It presents the above scenario from an angle most of us have never considered, that of the soldiers whose ongoing assignment is to deliver bad news. It shows the kinds of things that happen to these men in the course of their work and the psychological toll it takes, and it features two exceptional performances from Woody Harrelson, as an officer who specializes in this, and Ben Foster, as a sergeant forced into the assignment.

Along the way, "The Messenger" conveys a sense of military culture, specifically that of soldiers who return from battle to family and friends who can't possibly understand what they've been through. Foster, with little dialogue and with not much more than his facial aspect and bearing, conveys the sense of a soldier who saw horrors and feels disoriented back in the world of smiling faces and "Have a good one."

The last thing he needs, in his remaining months of active duty, is to be assigned as partner to Capt. Stone (Harrelson), as the messenger no one ever wants to see. Their scenes at the doors of loved ones are genuinely harrowing, each one distinct and raw, and filmed continuously, with a minimum of cutting. At times, it's almost too much, like spying on strangers in the worst moment of their lives. But mostly, it feels like seeing real pain that deserves real acknowledgment.

In recent years, Harrelson has proven himself a versatile actor with a shrewd understanding of himself as an instrument. His crazy-eyed smile has served him well in roles ranging from clueless good-old boys to zany hippies. But the reason he can play such parts is because he's not those parts but, rather, a very shrewd actor with lots of honesty and little vanity.

In "The Messenger," he shows us Capt. Stone's limitations, with a sensitive understanding of how such a fundamentally simple guy, without much in the way of intellectual resources, might react under this kind of crushing stress. For those of us who have been taking Harrelson seriously, this is the performance to point to and say, "See?"

Samantha Morton plays a war widow with whom the young sergeant strikes up a friendship. Director Oren Moverman films their scenes with long takes, sometimes using just one setup, creating a sense of really being there. There's only one moment where a little more cutting might have helped an actor. I don't know if the problem was Foster or the writing, but I didn't quite buy it.

It also is worth noting that there are pockets where the energy drops out of "The Messenger." Worth noting, yes. But big deal. This was one of the best movies of 2009.

'The Messenger'

xxxx (of 5)

Director: Oren Moverman.

Starring: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker.

Rated: R for language and some sexual content/nudity.

Run Time: 1 hr. 45 min.

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