The Messenger

Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery (Ben Foster, X-MEN: THE LAST STAND, 3:10 TO YUMA), a decorated hero who has just returned from Iraq, is angered to learn that his injuries mean he is assigned to the Army's Casualty Notification service - a "desk job". Will is taken under the wing of Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson in his Oscar nominated performance) who teaches him how to break the bad news to the loved ones of fallen soldiers-directly, impartially, impersonally. As Will learns the full importance of his new role, he becomes aware that the true scars of war are not wrought on the battlefield, but on the homefront. But when Will finds himself drawn to Olivia (dual Oscar nominee Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband's death, Will's emotional detachment begins to dissolve. Featuring tour-de-force performances from Foster, Harrelson and Morton, and a brilliant directorial debut by Oren Moverman, THE MESSENGER is surprising, humorous, moving and very human portrait of grief, friendship and survival.