Review of film: “THE MESSENGER” + Q&A With Director OREN MOVERMAN, Star BEN FOSTER & Producer L. INGLEE

2009, 11-12:

Review of film:  “THE MESSENGER”  + Q&A With Director OREN MOVERMAN, Star BEN FOSTER & Producer L. INGLEE

This constitutes my original Report # 13 on the 45th CIFF (Chicago Int'l Film Festival) --  with a review of a movie that was a “Gala Presentation” shown at the Fest on October 10th (& 11th, 2009);  it’s being reported now because the film is about to OPEN nationally in the U.S.:

Director:

Oren Moverman.

Writers:

Alessandro Camon

Oren Moverman.

Consultant: 

Paul Sinor  (Project Officer: Dept. of Defense).

Starring:

Woody Harrelson

Ben Foster

Samantha Morton

Jena Malone

Eamonn Walker

Yaya DaCosta

Portia

Lisa Joyce

Steve Buscemi

Peter Francis James

Jahmir Duran-Abreau.

MPAA Rating:

Rated R for language and some sexual content / nudity.

Quote:

“We’re just there for notification--  not God, not heaven.”

MY Rating: 

9 of 10 stars (for the 105–minute film).

                            Giving all the News that’s UNFIT to Hear

There have been numerous war-related films over the years--  but this one covers an area seldom even seen in such dramas, namely, the lives of those military men charged with delivering the news of DEATHS of people to their loved ones...

(…  I found out that subject was mainly covered previously in just a 19-minute short film from Carolyn McDonald in 2005 called “P.N.O.K. [Primary Next Of Kin]”, starring IRMA P. HALL [who attended this year’s festival with her movie “RAIN”] & Danny Glover)… 

…  In “THE MESSENGER”, Tony Stone (WOODY HARRELSON) is a very “by the book” Captain in the Casualty Notification Team when it comes to his job of delivering the news, but very wild otherwise (in his “off” hours)…

…  He soon meets the new guy, Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (BEN FOSTER) who’s been assigned to do similar work for his final 3 months of active duty (after having gotten back from Iraq as an injured hero).  Ben has found it difficult to adjust to life back in the States, partly because his longtime love (JENA MALONE) has moved on with her own separate life... 

…  Woody sees that Ben isn’t at all eager to be a bearer of bad news, & tries to show him the formal way to go about their work--  generally sticking to a “script”, saying as little as necessary, & trying to not get “involved” in the lives of those they meet.  His attitude is, it’s a dirty job, someone’s got to do it-- & that’s HIS “dirt” at the moment, so he’ll handle it accordingly & “party” afterwards…

 …  As they go about their rounds of delivering the heart-rending news to fathers, mothers, husbands, wives & others, they meet a variety of different responses from the people hearing the news, although most tend to fall apart or crumble in some way…

…  There’s a family that didn’t know their daughter was even married to a just-died soldier, one that chances to hear the news in a STORE rather than during the originally-planned at-home visit, etc…

...  While most people getting the news are simply sad at what they’ve heard & understanding that Woody & Ben are just doing their jobs, there’s an incident where a distraught father, Dale Martin (the hard-working STEVE BUSCEMI, in one of his best performances), reacts violently to hearing the news, & takes his anger out on Ben & Woody.  (He’s also seen in a later scene, making a special effort to find and talk to them)…

…  One news-giving incident strikes empathetic Ben particularly hard, due to the unusual response of Olivia Pitterson (SAMANTHA MORTON) when she hears the father of her mixed-race child Matt (JAHMIR DURAN-ABREAU) has been killed…

…  Altho Woody has cautioned him to never get embroiled in the lives of those getting the bad news from them, Ben on his own goes out of his way to VISIT Samantha after that…

…  They talk, share thoughts, & Ben starts getting emotionally involved with Samantha & her kid, actively trying to help them get their lives in better order.  Woody reacts very negatively when he finds out, but Ben persists in doing what he feels is “right” at the moment…

…  There are numerous “buddy”-type scenes between the 2 guys, in addition to their doing their unpleasant jobs. ..

…  What’s most impressive is the effective & striking way Woody & Ben handle their very different characterizations, & the fact that (as I learned in the Q&A held AFTER the film) that they are usually handling things in a “SPONTANEOUS” way, not knowing just “WHO” or “what” they were going to meet on their rounds of being the Messenger with devastating news.  (More about this later!)…

…  The Festival’s “promo” words said Ben & Woody deliver “Oscar-caliber performances” in this touching film--  & that actually is an ACCURATE statement, in my opinion… 

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Q&A With Director OREN MOVERMAN, Star BEN FOSTER & Producer LAWRENCE INGLEE

 

For the promised Q&A, after the highly-positive audience response to the film, the Festival’s Programming head, MIMI PLAUCHE, introduced first-time-feature-film director (& writer) OREN MOVERMAN, star BEN FOSTER (well known from his TV role as Russell Corwin in 22 episodes of "SIX FEET UNDER" from 2003-2005 & the movie “3:10 To Yuma”) and Producer LAWRENCE INGLEE...

…  Mimi asked the first question, namely, what was the “genesis” of the film?…  Oren spoke of how he in 2005 worked with the original writer of the movie (seemingly Alessandro Camon), & he was impressed with the idea of showing some of the consequences of war from the point of view of the guys giving the bad news…

…  He related that there were previously 3 OTHER directors attached to the project.  When the others didn’t do it for various reasons, “I really WANTED it—” as his first directing job, & he thus worked hard on the project when it was offered to him…

…  An audience member spoke of the fine performances by various of the WOMEN in the film.  Ben heartily agreed with that, & as to the question of how he prepared to play his part, he said, “One of the great GIFTS of the project—” was the way Oren was very OPEN to ideas, letting everyone talk to each other in that regard…

…  He spoke of how Oren set up a trip to Washington, DC for himself & Woody to an NPC ward, to talk to various of the military people, to ask questions about how they went about their Notification duties & the like…

…  In a way, they had like 40,000 “extras” helping them [directly & in “spirit”] in the way they spoke to “boys & girls--  KIDS” who’d just gotten BACK from serving overseas in various conflicts, listening to their experiences and feelings about things.  Thus, it was “very easy to just, I guess, get ‘OUT of the WAY’—” of the real facts of what was being done & how best to do their Notification roles… 

…  In a gracious way, Ben added, Oren “had the intuition” to bring everyone together as a cast & crew & keep them “on their toes” during the filming work…  He added, there was great help from a Casualty Identification officer, PAUL SINOR, who was on set with them every day, & he’d help by saying, the Messengers wouldn’t do or say this or that, that they would instead do it such & such a way, etc…

…  At one point, in speaking of Woody, as an “aside”, Ben generously wondered, had anyone seen him in “ZOMBIELAND”?!, he himself felt “He kicks ass!” in that film, which he loved…

…  At this point, I myself asked a question:  if Oren had the time or money to do it, would he have “ADDED” anything to what we’d seen?  Reflectively, he said, does he have “35 minutes” to answer that?!  Seriously, he said, actually, on an overall basis, “NOT really--  no.” …

…  Expanding on that, he said, while there was filmed footage they didn’t USE in the final cut, it was felt that it was UNNECESSARY:  he “went for a certain kind of power and emotion” in what was used, they “justified for ourselves what was put IN it”, & he doubts he’ll add anything new in that regard for the DVD version, since “THIS is the movie we wanted to release…”

…  To a question asked by an audience member about whether there was a lot of REHEARSAL done for the film, Oren said, “There was NO ‘rehearsal’—!”…   He said, on the day of shooting 2 scenes, he would do both on 1 day, & Ben (for example) DIDN’T KNOW what was going to “happen” with Samantha in their long kitchen scene [when he visits her in “private” after the Notification was done]…

…  When Ben was asked, how HARD was it to do scenes that way?, he very fervently said, “Man, that’s the ‘DRUG’--!…  To ‘dance’ with Sam is a dream!”, he’s long admired her.  Giving a sports analogy, he said, “When you play with someone BETTER than you—”, it “RAISES the game”, encouraging you to do even better work than usual…

…  He said, he’s had an “actor’s ‘crush’ on Sam for years!”…  Ben added, everyone on the set “fell in love with Sam”, for her realness & all, such as the way she openly breast-fed her child on the set… 

…  Continuing, Ben said, as to the acting work Sam did, “It’s utter commitment to the scene, not to herself—”, adding “We’re all looking for recognition—”…  He said, he wants to experience how to do it in the best way possible, & he very much LIKES having a director like Oren “who supports the environment”…

…  Producer Lawrence related how, during the 9.5 minute “kitchen” scene between Ben & Samantha, everyone on the crew gathered around monitors to watch what was going on: 

…  It was a very “nail-biting” time in that, whereas most such scenes would be shot using multiple cameras [in case anything went wrong with one, etc.], Oren chose to shoot with just ONE camera, which was an “almost STUPID” risk in retrospect!  But, it all worked out GREAT [with Ben & Sam creating “on the fly”], & yes, it took a lot of “balls” to do it that way!…

…  A guy in the audience commented that certain elements, like the hand-held camera, reminded him of work by director John Cassavetes, & wondered if he was an “influence” on Oren.  He replied that, he had various influences like him…

…  Overall, those preparing the film talked about how the notifications were the vital cog in the story, that “you’d live or die” by how that was handled, & thus it appeared wisest to shoot such things with a HAND-held camera for an “intimate” & “natural” feeling to the scenes…

 …  Oren said, he didn’t want to have to yell “Cut!” in the midst of important emotional scenes, so he preferred that things be done spontaneously.   He commented that two scenes -- the “kitchen” one with Ben, + one where a man’s daughter is informed of the death of her “hidden” husband -- were both done in just ONE take…

…  He was happy that, even when multiple takes were done, there were “NEW” elements given by the actors in each attempt…

…  Accordingly, “we didn’t do ANY rehearsal for ANYTHING in the movie… ”  For example, Ben & Woody never MET each other before the meeting SHOT for the movie.  Further, they didn’t know which one of them was going to GIVE the person the bad-news Notifications…

…  In addition, Ben & Woody NEVER MET the people they were going to “notify” before they gave their bad news, so they were always impromptu & natural in their reactions to the people they met, since it was all “NEW” to everyone…

…  Continuing with the earlier question, Oren said, he used ideas from various directors, such as the zoom shots, having been influenced by Hal Ashby, Robert Altman, the [documentary-making] Maysles brothers, etc….

…  To a comment from an audience member that he felt the film was “amazing”, Oren commented that, “We just wanted it to be HUMANISTIC.”, with some humor needed in the midst of the raw sadness of the Notifications.  He used “tonal shifts” at times, rather than committing to a single tone for the movie…

…  Another audience member commented on his feeling that the film had a “great SOUNDTRACK”, & wondered where the ideas came for that.  Oren said, it was “from ALL of us—”, such as the Editor & Ben & Lawrence & others offering their thoughts on the matter: 

…  “Everyone was encouraged to contribute—”…  Further, along those same lines, he’d had everyone in the film offer a DEDICATION to someone who’d died (not necessarily a military person), people who had MEANT a lot to them in their lives, & you see that in the end credits…        

 …  As to the Notifications themselves in the movie, only ONE was based on a real incident that happened:  Once, there was a famous incident where Notifiers asked a school principal to pull a teacher out of her class so she could be told about the death of a loved one…

…  By accident, their devastating report to her was overheard by many others in the school, making her heartache even greater.  After a very negative public reaction to all that, the military REVISED their conduct, deciding to NEVER give such Notifications in “public” anymore--  &, they’ve kept changing & reworking their procedures as time goes on… 

…  One person in the audience asked the “meaning” of a specific scene in the film.  Lawrence asked the person, what was THEIR “take” on the meaning?, the person answered, & Lawrence said, “[That] sounds right—”…  Oren remarked, “It is a WAR film—”, about what goes on even after the war is over for some people…

…  I asked another question:  how LONG did it take to write & put together the film?  Oren & Lawrence discussed that, saying, the initial work took more than a YEAR…

…  Oren related how 3 OTHER directors had initially been involved, including the late Sydney Pollack, and Ben Affleck.  He agreed with Lawrence that, when you add in all the preliminary planning, shooting & all, it was probably around 3 years in total from the first moment, “which is pretty fast” in certain ways…

…  AFTER the formal Q&A, all the people from the film were very GRACIOUS in talking to the public, & (especially in the case of Ben) signing autographs & posing for PHOTOS with members of the audience…  [ See examples: ]… 

…  A number of years ago, I remember talking to a Belgian director at the Chicago Int’l Film Festival & complimenting him on the way his female star acted very “natural” in the midst of usually-stuff “Victorian” times, citing how she had spoken her mind to others (especially men) & even got so emotionally “involved” in her scene that she had openly cried at one point…

…  The director was ANGRY about that, complaining that, the actress in question did NOT do what he WANTED in that scene, commenting that, “If I had wanted her to cry, I would have put GLYCERIN in her eyes!…”

…  To me, that desire to micro-manage everything,  rather than casting actors who could “ADD” something to the work by bringing a part of themselves to the role, has always been the OPPOSITE of how I believe a director SHOULD be in his work…  That’s one reason I was so IMPRESSED by the “spontaneous” work done by the actors in “THE MESSENGER”…

…  Accordingly, I COMMENTED to Ben Foster about how I was especially electrified by the impressive no-rehearsal work in THIS film.  While thanking me for the comment, Ben graciously said, kudos should go to Director OREN for ALLOWING his actors such freedom in the film…

…  I agreed that was true, but, while he’d clearly done wise CASTING & giving an atmosphere of FREEDOM to his actors, Ben himself should be proud of the work HE’D done re his own acting in that regard.  Smiling, Ben said, well, while “we could ‘FIGHT’—” about the matter, he’d ACCEPT my words!  I laughed & thanked him (& shot more PHOTOS of him posing with other audience members)…

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[ 2009, 11-20: ]

                    Director OREN MOVERMAN’s LETTER About "THE MESSENGER" 

As an aside, here’s a LETTER (-- with the “emphasis” in it being MINE-- ) from Director of “THE MESSENGER” about his film (as posted by a theater that was showing it to the general public):

“ It sounds like a downer. I concur. It could have been a downer. An unfamiliar, nasty voice in my head whispers it should have been a downer, man. But it isn't. We couldn't go there. The Messenger is about casualty notification, death announcements; it's about the people here at home who have to live with the consequences of the decision to go to war over there. Families. Wives. Parents. Returning soldiers. It's dark at its core. So we needed to look for the light. Just like in life, in my life, in your life, we needed to make the movie about human connections. About love, and friendship, and humor. We needed to find optimism, reject cynicism, we needed to make a film with the premise that choosing to live is possible, and necessary.

“ But I haven't told you anything yet about the story. I haven't even mentioned the actors. I can't recall if I even introduced myself and the tracking ball on this blackberry I write on is funky, I can't scroll up. Oh, well. What I wanted to say is that The Messenger is opening nationwide. But you already know that. It's a film we made for many reasons, but one stands out as I write these words: it's a film about getting back to feeling, it's about gratitude. It's not a downer, it's a feel good movie that respects the fact that life isn't always about feeling good. Please go see it. Then call someone and tell them you love them. You'll see what I mean.

“ If you're reading these words you must be alive. It's a good thing, you know. Keep doing it. And thank you for the time you've given me here. I'll see you at The Messenger.

“ —Oren Moverman, director ”

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