Movie Review: Kill the Messenger

By Sandipan Dalal

Cast: Jeremy Renner, Michael Sheen, Andy Garcia

Director: Michael Cuesta

Language: English

Kill the Messenger flies high on the power of Jeremy Renner’s allstops-out performance as journalist Gary Webb. The film brings together familiar journalistmovie ingredients — a true story, conspiracy, one man against the system— and manages to stir them up enough to almost resemble something fresh. It’s an interesting approach to a fascinating story, yet it still can’t fully break free of its initial limitations.

The film revolves around Webb, an investigative reporter, who in the mid-’90s, stumbled across a connection between the CIA and the epidemic of crack cocaine in the US. Webb discovers the shocking evidence with assists from a stellar cast including Andy Garcia, Michael Sheen and Ray Liotta. But the film belongs to Renner. He showed his acting chops in the Oscar winning film, Hurt Locker, and we can safely say that nobody plays obsessive, disturbed characters better than him.

Director Michael Cuesta walks us through the story at a decent pace, generating tension. But his movie lacks a point of view beyond the justification of its subject. It doesn’t let us explore Renner’s character and form our own judgement. It simply forces us to be sympathetic towards him. This is a story that’s clearly worth telling, but relying too much on Webb’s domestic drama makes it strained. As a screen version of a scandal, it feels a little incomplete, yet it’s worthy of one time watching.