7/10

If there was ever a title more suited for a movie this year, then i don’t know it. Kill The Messenger is unapologetic in not only the education it serves, but also the consequences for our main character. Jeremy Renner (“The Bourne Legacy”) leads an all-star cast in a dramatic thriller based on the remarkable true story of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb. Webb stumbles onto a story which leads to the shady origins of the men who started the crack epidemic on the nation’s streets…and further alleges that the CIA was aware of major dealers who were smuggling cocaine into the U.S., and using the profits to arm rebels fighting in Nicaragua. Despite warnings from drug kingpins and CIA operatives to stop his investigation, Webb keeps digging to uncover a conspiracy with explosive implications. Renner continues to show why he is a two time Academy Award nominee with another intense performance as Webb. It’s an interesting role because it’s not just about the triumphs of Gary, but the tragedies as well. Each act of this film is served into different territories of the story. The first act educates the audience into foreign policy with drug trafficking and the events of our own higher ups during the Nixon Administration. The second act reveals the consequences of Webb’s actions to shining a light on the war going on in our own urban streets. The third act fizzles the story out a little bit as this feels like a film that doesn’t quite know where to start it’s ending credits. I was very thankful for the real life documentary style footage not only used during the film, but for the impact that Webb had on the African American community after dropping the bomb. This felt like the perfect time to reveal a film like this, and i’m kind of discouraged that it’s only playing in one theater in my county. I compare the film a lot to Oliver Stone’s “JFK” for many reasons, but one big difference is that i left JFK feeling like this was just the beginning in the war against corruption. In Kill The Messenger, i felt like there was a lot of evidence placed on the table by Webb, but no one was interested in picking up the pieces because of the consequences of standing against such a powerful entity. We all know there is more to the men and women who supposedly have our best interests at heart, and that is why i love films like this. Gary is fighting a big war ahead of him, and to expect the typical happy ending would be underestimating the methods of the same men he is trying to expose. The film had a lot of great editing mainly in the areas of supplying media coverage of the real life Webb story. Many scenes play like a documentary and not like you are watching a feature film. There were many times when i was taken out of the theater and placed next to Webb wanting him to find the next clue in blowing this case open. The movie also has a great cast even though not all of them get valued on screen time. Mary Elisabeth Winstead, Oliver Platt, Barry Pepper, Andy Garcia, Rosemarie Dewitt, Ray Liotta supply a star studded cast that goes on and on. Kill The Messenger will not be the most exciting movie that you have seen this year, but it presents a great American scandal in a light that were not quite used to. It gives you the answer first, and then makes you find the information for the proper question. I would recommend the film to anyone interested in education not only with the drug trade, but war supply in general. It’s a real life narrative that explains the things we don’t know may indeed kill us.