“The Messenger”: A Message about the Impact of War

March 10, 2010 Comments »

Co-written with Scott Moses Murray

Starts Friday, March 12, at the Five Points Theatre.

The effects of war on soldiers, families, society…  That’s one of the main themes of “The Messenger,” though I’m not entirely sure what the message of the film was.

Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster), who was almost killed in Iraq and comes back a hero, starts working under Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) as part of a Bereavement Notification team.

They witness the anguish and indelible grief of the families who learn their sons, husbands, boyfriends and daughters were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, as they deliver the tragic news without showing any emotion or empathy, and as Captain Stone emphasizes, without ever touching the NOK, next of kin.

Will struggles with that and, at times, feels compelled to hold the hand of the family members. And while the scars of those fallen in combat are fatal, the emotional scars that war has seared in the psyche of both men are played out in conversations, Tony’s battle with alcoholism and womanizing, and the empathy Will feels for the families he meets at each doorstep.

After being kicked out of houses and spit on by a grieving father, Will visits Olivia Pitterson (Samantha Morton) to tell her, her husband had died in combat. He becomes infatuated with her.

Perhaps what draws Will to Olivia is her empathy for the soldiers in their difficult assignment—”This can’t be easy for you,” she recognizes as (against procedure) she reaches out to shake their hands, as if to release them from any sense of guilt they may feel.

Though Will’s motivation is not made clear in the film, it may be that this physical contact and surprise role reversal breaks through his own pain and makes him feel more strongly that he should comfort the bereaved families in some way.

Will drives back to Olivia’s.  He fixes her car.  He delivers a flag to her son.  He wants to help her get her life back together, but his attraction to her is confused and confusing.

Olivia’s response to receiving the flag kind of says it all.  ”Flags and casseroles, we can’t seem to get enough of those.”

Those who haven’t been affected by war can’t possibly understand or experience the havoc that war wreaks on people’s lives—those in combat and those left behind.