Kill the Messenger (2014)

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Well, what wiill I say here? Jeremy Renner is a very decent and strong actor, he can deliver depth and seriousness with a very gentle and exact touch. He sees to be a very tough and deep actor, yet when the film is of secondary rank and of dubious merit, the great cast (like in this movie, there is an outstanding array of talents, including Garcia, Patrick, Winstead among others). The story of Gary Webb's Dark Alliance seems like another swell sweet to crack, yet it ain't fly. All the potential of the plot was broken against wrong pacing, awkward dialog, too hasty jumps, and on top of that, too blatant a message which was not only shoved and placed into our mouths but also chewed and swallowed - Webb is The man, the official guys are evil. Too obvious a propaganda step. Abother drawback which spoiled it all was a very open and obvious mimicking Oliver Stone's Nixon style of narrative. Come on, guys we have seen it before, only he did it better than you.

Interesting story of the vile corruption in America.Poorly researched.Poorly put together.Total failure in showing how and why Mr Webb supposedly killed himself with two bullets.Or was murdered.Mr Renner played very monotonously. Inhuman.Watchable.Disappointing.I don't know if there was a casting issue for Webb's wife. I'd've probably killed myself if I'd a scraggy wife like that. Not an appealing choice. But in real life he had several children with her, so probably was not her.Why on earth did he pop off to stay in that hotel? And if your bike's stolen why do you add to your woes by then vandalising your own car? There's no sense in it. We need an investigative reporter to decypher this movie it seems.A remake is necessary to show the exact events of the true story. Ie not US corruption, but Mr Webb's death.

Government cover ups and how people tried to uncover them are always a good source for a movie. It's the whole thing about David versus Goliath sort of. Overcoming odds that seem too big too overcome. But not all stories do end like most would want them too. Will this be any different and did you already know the case? Because as you may already know, this is based in reality/true story.It's really suspenseful from beginning to start and it will be able to keep you at the edge of your seat. The one time Bourne substitute and Avengers team player can show off some other talents here. And Jeremy Renner did so before of course (remember Hurt Locker?), though some may have forgotten. This is to remind everybody of that raw material he's working with. A really good movie from start to finish

One of those true life stories that is sadly more intriguing than it's big screen treatment, Kill the Messenger is a middle of the road drama/thriller that for any number of reasons can't break free from its shackles to become anything more than a mildly interesting cautionary tale, despite a decent turn by the in need of a hit Jeremy Renner and a subject matter that is ripe for political commentary.At one time or another positioned for a run in the awards season, Michael Cuesta's film found itself on the end of a low key world wide release that would've completely bypassed some people's memories. Watching the film now it's not hard to see why the film failed to make a splash. From the sombre tone, the uninspired yet workmanlike direction, a wasting of quality supports that range from Michael Sheen through to Michael Kenneth (Chalky White, Omar Little) Williams and a curiously lacking look into the nasty business the CIA was involved in in regard to the South American drug trade, Messenger just doesn't do enough with its real life potent material to come fully to life.I for one must be the first to admit to a lack of knowledge regarding what Messenger deals with and it's in this fact that the most amount of good will stems from, as there's a number of people that want to know more about the shady operations that America gets involved in. Renner's dogged journalist Gary Webb unearths wide ranging and politically juicy facts about drugs being sold to fund various programs and wars and the film comes alive when both Gary and the audience get thrown into situations involving those that were privy to the clandestine operations. It does feel like there was more to unearth in this real life investigation but what is bought forward is enough to drive this film and the viewer's interest without ever becoming truly invested as other films of the same ilk have done in the past.By no means a badly made film, this is a film that will frustrate due to its undeniable potential that remains unreached, Kill the Messenger portrays some incredibly interesting events in a sadly non-incredible way. With another solid if unspectacular lead turn by the worryingly out of sorts Jeremy Renner, Messenger never gets out of first gear and succeeds to the level it does thanks to its real life events it depicts.3 unlucky car windows out of 5