That was an excellent one.

A different way of telling a story

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Good, but could have been mind-blowingly great. The movie was set up perfectly in the first two-thirds or so, but failed to make a profound point. The final third isn't a waste, having some very poignant and sensitive moments, but it was set up for something massively insightful.Quite original plot and sensitive, flowing Clint Eastwood-like direction. Superb performances from Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson. Harrelson deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Solid support from Samantha Morton and a good minor performance from Steve Buscemi.

What an extremely depressing movie, start to finish. Just so you know. Now, having said that, there is nothing really wrong with that. There is definitely a place for sad movies. With all of the (well-deserved) criticism of Hollywood for putting out cookie-cutter films, this is not one of them. It is serious and thoughtful. I've never been much of a fan of Woody Harrelson, what with his weird roles in such things as "Cheers" and "Natural Born Killers", and his loopy politics and hit man father, but he really brought some acting chops into this role. Samantha Morton played her role as an awkward widowed mom very well. And Lisa Joyce was nice in a small part. But I don't know if I can recommend this one.

Though The Messenger shows no actual combat or scenes of fighting, it would seem to be in the vein of some of the anti-Vietnam movies of say, Oliver Stone and such, showing an alternative way how war messes people up.The Messenger is also a largely unlikeable film, being also difficult to watch and now, to review. A messenger in this sense is someone who has to knock on next-of-kin's doors and inform them that their son/daughter has been killed in action. Reactions, unsurprisingly are mixed and unpredictable.Naturally, this requires a special type of person to handle such and in military captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), who's been decorated but also in A.A., we find a flawed and angry man. Taking on a younger new recruit, Staff Sgt Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) there's the obvious clash of experience and outlook and the even more inevitable buddy type of hanging out together.Unfortunately for us, both men seem to like to resort to thrashing out heavy metal and punching the walls as a means of coping with the pent up frustrations that the job's rigid rules around emotion and self control insist upon. This makes it all jarring and unsettling, which may well have been what director Oran Moverman wanted. This is Moverman's first film and is reasonably accomplished.There is some very welcome support from two of the world's finest character actors - Steve Buscemi and Brit Samantha Morton. They play father and wife, respectively of two entirely different men killed in Afghanistan and their characters feature big in the emotions of our two leads. Morton as widow, who Foster helps but fortunately (for both the film and us) does not get too emotionally involved, is probably the easiest role to both like and believe.The Messenger is a well acted, reasonably well directed film but one that is also quite long. As I said, I didn't find it particularly enjoyable and as such, cannot personally readily extend to beyond 7/10.

Even securing Hollywood veteran Woody Harrelson his second Oscar nomination, the film has eluded me until now, and a long overdue viewing proves it is an overlooked gem on the recent war-trauma film list. The breakthrough effort of the film is its one-of-a-kind perspective, with zero scenes from the violent frontline (including the usual gambit of fly-on-the-wall clips), the modus operandi aims at the ominous casualty notification soldiers and one theatrical oomph originates from the various poignant reactions from the next-of-kins of dead soldiers in Iraq when they are being notified, a faintly tricky scheme to gain the empathy towards both the film and its main characters, which is a laudable feat and very operative due to a splendid cast and unostentatious script (the formality of notification is swell written).Budding as one of the versatile young actors in Hollywood, Ben Foster excels in his not-so- frequent leading role as an ostensible war-hero plagued by a hidden secret, typifies ideally a post-war anguish-tortured individual. Foster generates a magnificent screen chemistry both with his tutor-cum-friend Woody Harrelson (a well-developed supporting role as Foster's superior captain, whose behind-the-scene background story is finely underlined by Harrelson's scene-stealing faculty) and with a never-disheartening Samantha Morton, the paragraph when Morton unravels her inner affection and grief to Foster in her home is a total tour-de-force. So, the war-blasting viewpoint has been established in both cases with its direct victims potently (soldiers and their families), all the proofs are indisputable, and for majority of its audience who has no mighty to change any political imbroglio towards warfare, the film at least hardens the determination of respecting each individual in a more altruistic way and maybe the world will get better day by day.