[projekktor id=’15559′]
Kill the Messenger tells the story of Gary Webb (Jeremy Renner) an investigative journalist for the San Jose Mercury News. Webb gets a tip that leads him to the biggest story of his career: the US Government allowed drugs to be put on American streets in order to fund an illegal war in Central America. However, after publishing his accounts, Webb is quickly silenced and discredited by the government and more importantly his colleagues in the media.
10 years after Nicaragua’s civil war, Webb is investigating a DEA informant who snitches on drug dealers in his own employ in exchange for a free pass from the government to continue peddling his product on American streets. As he follows this story Webb quickly learns it leads to a much bigger government conspiracy: that during Nicaragua’s civil war the CIA used funds earned from drug cartels to finance their involvement in the foreign civil war. Without delving too much into the political implications, the film focuses on Webb’s investigation. We travel with him to meet his many criminal informants, including an interview with a jailed former drug boss, Meneses (Andy Garcia). The first half of the film plays like a spy thriller – it’s exciting, anything can happen and what Webb discovers is game changing. With the support of his small time newspaper, Webb publishes his Dark Alliance articles. What at first seems like the story of a lifetime for Webb (one that competing media outlets wish they discovered), soon becomes a battle against a smear campaign out to ruin him” something like that. Webb is criticized by all the major outlets – and eventually discredited by even his own editors. The second half of the film explores the life of a man on the edge.
I enjoyed the film, not only for its controversial true story but because there was an honesty to the performances, and approach that doesn’t sensationalize the story. It could’ve easily stuck to a spy thriller format (director Michael Cuesta is executive producer of the television series Homeland) and worked the conspiracy angle harder, but it didn’t. Cuesta attempted to use genre conventions to set and shift the tone of the film. The film stars off as a political thriller with quick camera movements, around the world gallivanting and suspenseful, thrilling discoveries. Then it transitions into the paranoid; closing in on Webb’s own isolation, paranoia and fear. In the end, Cuesta’s film has morphed from spy thriller to intimate drama. Refocusing the story to Webb’s crumbling home and professional life as he continues to chase a story long since discredited because of his drive to report the truth. However noble his endeavours may be, the narrowing in on Webb is slightly uncomfortable, we’re watching a man’s life crumble because of his in ability to let go. The shifting genres make the overall feel of the film a little confusing – especially while watching it. You’re not sure if you should still be on the edge of your seat or if its time for a more intellectual approach. One thing is certain though, the love of adventure that the film opened with has turned into a bleak, almost pathetic portrait of a man who is about to lose everything he held dear.
There’s an excitement and spark in Jeremy Renner’s portrayal of Webb – probably because the project has been in Renner’s sight for some time (the actor optioned the books the film is based on and produced the picture). His strong performance is matched by the supporting cast. Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Oliver Platt share the honour of being Webb’s flip-flopping editors – originally thrilled to be part of a ground-breaking story, the small time newspaper editors are unprepared for the media backlash that their publication sets in motion. At first trying to stand by their writer, they soon fall to outside pressures and lack of evidence publishing an editorial apologizing for printing unverified information, and effectively ending Webb’s career. They aren’t bad guys though, Winstead in particular puts a real human face on the circumstances – caught between trusting an increasingly erratic friend and trusting the facts as they are represented by other media outlets. On the family side, Rosemarie DeWitt is flawless as Webb’s wife – there is a comfort and ease between DeWitt and Renner that easily conveys the fragile ground Webb treads at home. She loves him, but he’s still paying for past indiscretions. Lucas Hedges delivers a breakthrough performance as Webb’s teenage son.
While not always a fun or easy watch, Kill the Messenger has a strong message – one that is very relevant to the state [of] media and journalism today, especially when it comes to the media’s portrayal of recent government whistle blowers like Edward Snowden or Julian Assange. Though history has shown us that he was right, Webb’s story is all the more important because the media convinced the public not to believe him. While the film pulls a bait and switch- teases a thriller and gives you a thinker – its a worthwhile watch, if only for the healthy dose of media scepticism it provides.
Reviewed by Vithiya Murugadas.
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