The Messenger Is More Than a War Movie

Oren Moverman's new movie focuses on two soldiers, but was not intended to be a war movie.

"The Messenger," which opens Friday, depicts the lives of two soldiers assigned to a heart-wrenching task. Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery and Captain Tony Stone must visit anxious families at their homes to inform them that their loved one has been killed in the war.

Montgomery, played by Ben Foster, is the newbie on the scene, while Woody Harrelson took the role of the hardened old-timer, Captain Stone.

Moverman, who made the movie based on a screenplay he wrote with Alessandro Camon, used interesting techniques to shoot the scenes. Foster and Harrelson were not allowed to meet the other actors that they would be delivering the tragic news to in the scenes.

"They didn't have any conversations with them, not even a hello," Moverman told the L.A. Times.

The director also allowed his characters to add their own touches.

"Everyone was encouraged to go off-script," he said.

While the film clearly includes topics dealing with war and the military, Moverman did not intend for the film to be strictly a war movie. He wanted it to be a more all-encompassing film that could apply to any coping process.

"For us, it was about universal themes – how do you get back to life having suffered loss and pain."

Samantha Morton also had a role in the film. She played a widow who found herself in a complicated relationship with the sergeant who delivered the news of her husband's death.