By Darlene
Donloe
Kill The
Messenger,
set for release Friday, Oct. 10, is more than just a movie about Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalist Gary Webb. It’s also an indictment on the journalism
profession.
Kill The
Messenger, set
in the 1990s and directed by Michael
Cuesta, tells the story of Gary Webb, a fearless investigative reporter who
pulled back the curtain on the CIA’s ties to crack trade.
The
film, a complex dramatic thriller, is based on Webb’s true story. It starts out
by showing how he stumbled on a story that eventually led down some dark,
political alleys. It opens up the proverbial not talked about can of worms that
revealed the origins of the men who started the crack epidemic on the streets
of America.
Webb
is fed some secret Grand Jufy transcripts by a cocaine trafficker’s girlfriend,
Coral Baca (Paz Vega). What he uncovers reveals a link between U.S.
intelligence and Central American cocaine smuggling. It’s an eye-opening movie
that alleges that the CIA was not only aware of major drug infiltration, but
was actually working with Nicaraguan rebels to smuggle cocaine into the U.S.,
using the profits to art Contra militias.
It
soon becomes a game of cat and mouse with Webb eventually becoming the cheese. After Webb’s story is published in 1996
in the San Jose Mercury News, his life takes a eerie and dramatic turn and he
somehow becomes the story. In the beginning he had the backing of his paper’s
editor Anna Simons. The series of
stories ran with the title, ‘Dark Alliance.’ The stories gained nationwide attention. The stories left
many big city editors scratching their heads, wondering how they could have
missed such a big story.
Jeremy Renner
Soon
the accolades stop and Webb’s editor begins to back down from her support. His reporting
is questioned by everyone, so is his integrity. Many reporters, who missed the story, move to not only
discredit his work, but also his reputation.
Webb
is played spectacularly by two-time Academy Award nominee Jeremy Renner, who
gives a riveting performance.
The
supporting cast is equally impressive.
Kill The
Messenger,
directed by Cuesta, stars Renner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Ray Liotta, Michael Kenneth
Williams, Andy Garcia, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lucas Hedges, Tim Blake Nelson,
Barry Pepper, Michael Sheen, Oliver Platt and Paz Vega.
Kill The
Messenger
(Focus Features) is Rated R: (for language and drug content); Running time: 112
minutes.
On
the DONLOE SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likeable), O
(oh, yeah) and E (excellent), Kill The
Messenger gets an O (oh, yeah).
Following are some clips:
Freeway Ricky Ross:
I'm Writing The Story:
ww.facebook.com/KilltheMessengermovie
TwitterHashtag:
#killthemessenger
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