The Messenger

As the only film about the Iraq war I was interested in seeing, for the most part it didn't disappoint. Actually, it's about a lot more than the Iraq war. Excellently acted by Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson (who won a well-deserved Oscar nomination for his role) and Samantha Morton, the basic story revolves around two soldiers whose job is to inform a family member of the death of their son, daughter, husband or wife. Watching this film was mesmerizing and heart-wrenching: people being overcome by emotions, as you'd expect, as well as the stoic following of the military rules of non-involvement (just being a messenger) by the two soldiers and the effect of that on them. So this film is really about the overall result of war and the military life in general to soldiers who've come home from fighting as well as their families. As one of the soldiers says "They should show the funerals on TV". There were a few drunken buddy scenes later in the film that didn't seem as real to me, but maybe they would to a man or a soldier.