THE MESSENGER Movie Review
November 12, 2009 by Eric
Filed under Movie Reviews
The Messenger will be released to theaters on Friday November 13, 2009 and stars Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker, and directed by Oren Moverman. If you are planning to go see the movie, here are a few reviews from around the web to help you make up your mind.
The Washington Post
In modern warfare, which is more powerful: The IED or the NOK? That's the question posed by "The Messenger," a drama about a young army officer assigned to deliver death notices to soldiers' next of kin ("NOKs" in military parlance) while home recovering from injuries -- both physical and psychological -- that he suffered because of an Iraqi improvised explosive device. Read More.
Screen Crave
This is it, with The Messenger in theaters, the time for possible Oscar films has begun! First time director and co-writer Oren Moverman shows us how to make a movie with his debut film, which is as subtle and beautiful as it is poignant and dramatic. From an amazing script, to beautiful performances he has unknowingly made himself Oscar-bait. Read More.
The Canadian Press
It's an unenviable task, making films about the war on terror for audiences that don't want to sit through dramatizations of the same bad news they get for real out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
Less enviable is the task the key characters are charged with in "The Messenger": Providing word to people back home that a loved one has died in action.
After Kathryn Bigelow served up the first great Iraq War film with this year's "The Hurt Locker," Oren Moverman delivers a moderately engaging homefront counterpart on "The Messenger," a story that strays about without finding its centre. Read More.
The Messenger Synopsis: In his most powerful performance to date, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.
You can watch the trailer below
THE MESSENGER Movie Trailer
Check out the trailer from THE MESSENGER starring Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker, and directed by Oren Moverman.
The Messenger Synopsis: In his most powerful performance to date, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.
The Messenger will be released to theaters on November 13, 2009.
THE MESSENGER Movie Poster
Check out the poster from THE MESSENGER starring Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker, and directed by Oren Moverman.
The Messenger Synopsis: In his most powerful performance to date, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.
The Messenger will be released to theaters on November 13, 2009.
THE MESSENGER Movie Picture with Ben Foster & Woody Harrelson
Check out pictures from THE MESSENGER starring Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker, and directed by Oren Moverman.
The Messenger Synopsis: In his most powerful performance to date, Ben Foster stars as Will Montgomery, a U.S. Army officer who has just returned home from a tour in Iraq and is assigned to the Army’s Casualty Notification service. Partnered with fellow officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson) to bear the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers, Will faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort and healing back on the home front. When he finds himself drawn to Olivia (Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will’s emotional detachment begins to dissolve and the film reveals itself as a surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.
The Messenger will be released to theaters on November 13, 2009. Check out more pictures below.
PANDORUM 5 Movie Clips with Ben Foster
Check out 5 clips from PANDORUM starring Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Norman Reedus, Cam Gigandet, and directed by Christian Alvart.
Pandorum Synopsis: In PANDORUM, Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, The Express) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog) join Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down, Twilight), Cung Le (Tekken, Fighting), newcomer Antje Traue, and director Christian Alvart (Antibodies) to tell the terrifying story of two crew members stranded on a spacecraft who quickly – and horrifically – realize they are not alone.
Two astronauts awaken in a hyper-sleep chamber aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft. It's pitch black, they are disoriented, and the only sound is a low rumble and creak from the belly of the ship. They can't remember anything: Who are they? What is their mission?
With Lt. Payton (Quaid) staying behind to guide him via radio transmitter, Cpl. Bower (Foster) ventures deep into the ship and begins to uncover a terrifying reality. Slowly the spacecraft's shocking, deadly secrets are revealed...and the astronauts find their own survival is more important than they could ever have imagined.
Pandorum will be released to theaters on September 25, 2009. Watch the 5 clips below. You should also watch the trailer, and there is still time to enter our Pandorum giveaway.
PANDORUM Motion Poster with Sound
Check out this new motion poster from PANDORUM starring Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Norman Reedus, Cam Gigandet, and directed by Christian Alvart.
After the really creative posters (which you can see here and here) for the movie, the marketing department has gone even one step further by creating a motion poster with sound. Although I'm not a fan of the sound, the motion is pretty cool. It's only a matter of time until motion posters are the standard (actually I'm starting to see lots of them in malls).
Pandorum will be released nationwide on September 25, 2009. Check out the motion poster below.
PANDORUM French Movie Poster
Check out the French poster for PANDORUM (thanks to The Tangent Universe) starring Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Norman Reedus, Cam Gigandet, and directed by Christian Alvart.
Even though this is the first poster on which we see the actors clearly, it unfortunately doesn't rival with the very creative US posters (which you can see here and here).
Pandorum will be released to theaters on September 4, 2009.
Pandorum Synopsis: In PANDORUM, Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, The Express) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog) join Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down, Twilight), Cung Le (Tekken, Fighting), newcomer Antje Traue, and director Christian Alvart (Antibodies) to tell the terrifying story of two crew members stranded on a spacecraft who quickly - and horrifically - realize they are not alone.
Two astronauts awaken in a hyper-sleep chamber aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft. It's pitch black, they are disoriented, and the only sound is a low rumble and creak from the belly of the ship. They can't remember anything: Who are they? What is their mission?
With Lt. Payton (Quaid) staying behind to guide him via radio transmitter, Cpl. Bower ventures deep into the ship and begins to uncover a terrifying reality. Slowly the spacecraft's shocking, deadly secrets are revealed...and the astronauts find their own survival is more important than they could ever have imagined.
PANDORUM Movie Poster
Check out the new creepy poster of PANDORUM starring Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Norman Reedus, Cam Gigandet, and directed by Christian Alvart.
The PANDORUM trailer was disturbing but if this poster is any indication of what we can expect, prepare yourself to be freaked out.
Pandorum Synopsis: In PANDORUM, Dennis Quaid (Vantage Point, The Express) and Ben Foster (3:10 to Yuma, Alpha Dog) join Cam Gigandet (Never Back Down, Twilight), Cung Le (Tekken, Fighting), newcomer Antje Traue, and director Christian Alvart (Antibodies) to tell the terrifying story of two crew members stranded on a spacecraft who quickly - and horrifically - realize they are not alone.
Two astronauts awaken in a hyper-sleep chamber aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft. It's pitch black, they are disoriented, and the only sound is a low rumble and creak from the belly of the ship. They can't remember anything: Who are they? What is their mission?
With Lt. Payton (Quaid) staying behind to guide him via radio transmitter, Cpl. Bower ventures deep into the ship and begins to uncover a terrifying reality. Slowly the spacecraft's shocking, deadly secrets are revealed...and the astronauts find their own survival is more important than they could ever have imagined.
Pandorum will be released to theaters on September 4, 2009.
(Source: IMPAwards.com via FirstShowing.net)
New PANDORUM Movie Trailer
Check out the trailer for PANDORUM starring Dennis Quaid, Ben Foster, Norman Reedus, Cam Gigandet, and directed by Christian Alvart.
I posted the first trailer for Pandorum back in March, but I think this new one looks even better. The concept in itself is pretty creepy. I mean these people are on their own in space, there is no one there to help them. I don't usually like the Resident Evil type of movie, but I am definitely considering seeing Pandorum.
Pandorum will be released to theaters on September 4, 2009. Watch the trailer below.
Pandorum Synopsis: From the creators of the Resident Evil film franchise comes Pandorum, a terrifying thriller in which two crew members wake up on an abandoned spacecraft with no idea who they are, how long they've been asleep, or what their mission is. The two soon discover they're actually not alone -- and the reality of their situation is more horrifying than they could have imagined.
THE MESSENGER Movie Picture
Check out a picture for THE MESSENGER starring Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker, and directed by Oren Moverman.
This movie has quite the cast and I really love the look of that picture above. But The Messenger unfortunately has no release date yet.
The Messenger Synopsis: Two soldiers from different generations form a unique bond as they cope with their assignment with the Army Casualty Notification department.
