'Messenger' shows war from alternative view

"The Secretary of Defense deeply regrets informing you that your (son, daughter), (military rank), (name) has been killed while on duty."

Such chilling words have been heard in films at least back to World War II (particularly the Selznick classic "Since You Went Away" with Jennifer Jones in 1944). The people change. The world changes but, somehow, war remains the same.

"The Messenger" takes place on the front porches of America, not on the battlefield.

Yet, it has more to say about the results of war than any half-dozen action films.

It concerns a pair of "casualty notification" officers who face the task of "informing" the next of kin.

Playing at Norfolk's Naro Expanded Cinema, this is a fine and, yes, entertaining film. Even though it deals with sadness and grief, it is not a tearjerker. Even though it respects the military way of life, it is not a blandly patriotic sermon. Even though it holds up a cruel mirror to our current warfare, it keeps its distance from either flag-waving or peace demonstrations. Fueled by a splendid performance by Ben Foster and a colorful one by Woody Harrelson, it gets down to the very guts and heart of those left behind on the homefront.

They are not saints. One angry father (played by the always-colorful character actor Steve Buscemi) screams, "Why aren't YOU dead?" at the two uniformed men who give him the news. He recalls that his son said, "If I don't go, who's going to go instead of me?" In another case, a father is shocked to learn that his daughter married the soldier before he left. She never told her family.

A widow (Samantha Morton) inspires the beginning of feeling, maybe even love, when she looks at Foster's messenger and comments, "This can't be easy for you."

Morton has no resemblance to a movie star, but she is the personification of a needy, vulnerable woman who never had that much to lose. She recalls: "It's funny - we always had to go wherever the Army sent us. Now, I don't have anywhere to go." Her contribution is more a presence than a performance. She becomes the hope for an officer whose girl has become engaged to someone else while he was away at war.

The film, though, is not a romance about the widow and the messenger, as might be suggested by its publicity. That episode, while as poignant as any in the film, is merely a part of a larger, more complex overview of America at war.

At the center of the film is Staff Sgt. Will Montgomery, who is played by Foster. Usually he is a showy and crafty character actor who specializes in nogoodniks - as in "Alpha Dog" (2006) or, most memorably, as the crazed cowboy in "3:10 to Yuma" (2007). Here, he has the lead, and he turns Montgomery into a compelling mixture of lost macho and emotion. It etches a portrait of a man who doesn't want to care but can't help it. It is one of the year's best performances - perhaps the best.

He had the medals that brand him a hero in Iraq, but he is still overcoming injuries (more emotional than physical) when he is assigned to the nondescript "Casualty Identification" squad.

With three months left in the service, he is bewildered by being named to what he calls "the death squad."

His mentor and commander is an officer who has never seen action. ("All I ever wanted was to be shot at. Is that too much to ask for?") The part is played in his usual wide-eyed, overly showy way by Woody Harrelson, who, for this part, is just right. He's an alcoholic who has been married three times - twice to the same woman. He and his rookie friend go to bars at night to try and forget that they are often cursed and spat at during the day. Harrelson informs his charge that he should never vary from the script and never, ever touch or hug the survivors.

The after-effects of war have been the stuff of drama and soul-searching since the beginning of recorded storytelling. There was Homer's "Odyssey," about returning from the Trojan wars. "Gone With the Wind" was more about a faded civilization adjusting to life after war than it was about romance. The telegrams and the stars hanging in the window were numerous on the homefront of World War II movies. "The Best Years of Our Lives" (1946) won seven Oscars in chronicling the efforts of service men to adjust to civilian life after WWII. "Coming Home" (1978) and "Born on the Fourth of July" (1989) chronicled returning from an unpopular war.

"The Messenger" is as important, in its way, as any of them. On behalf of the war veterans, we are informed that "you can't unsee what you've already seen." It stays with you. So does this film.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com.