Kill The Messenger

For those of you who don’t know the true story behind Kill the Messenger I won’t spoil anything for you in this review.  I will just review the movie in general terms and talk about the performances.

The very basic premise that you pick up from seeing any trailers for this movie is that Kill the Messenger is about a reporter from a San Jose news paper that breaks a huge story that puts him in the national spot light and possibly in danger.

Jeremy Renner who plays the main character is fantastic in his role and really carries the movie as he has proven being very capable of in other great movies.  He is so believable in his role.  You really care about his character almost from the beginning and from then on out you are totally bought in.  Renner has that “it” factor that makes you root so hard for him no matter what role he is playing in.  He’s just a really likable guy.

The story is real and I knew the basics, so there really were no shocking moments but the movie still does a great job of telling a compelling tale.  The pacing is good but still has the dramatic pauses and uncomfortable moments that all dramas need.  The movie runs about 2 hours and it feels perfect, not too long or short.

For the most part the supporting actors fade away around Renner, but Rosemarie DeWitt who plays the spouse of the main character put in a solid performance. There are some miss steps such as watching Andy Garcia trying way to hard to act and a small part for Ray Liotta in the only underacted role in his entire career.  Liotta is typically a scene stealer and even he wasn’t able to take the shine off of Renner.

Ultimately this isn’t the best drama this season, but its a great story that deserved the true Hollywood treatment and it got what it deserved with this film.  I never looked at my watch during the entire movie.  I just sat back, had a cold drink and a bag of popcorn and really enjoyed watching the story unfold.

Well told story, solid acting, good pacing, Jeremy Renner, go see it.

4 out of 5 Stars.