Everything that entertains you isn’t meant for pure entertainment. Kill The Messenger a new film by director, Michael Cuesta tells the story of journalist Gary Webb. He’s a good natured man, a hard worker and a family man. Like any other man he’s made some mistakes but his best days are ahead of him. Webb works for a small market daily publication in San Jose called the Mercury News, but he has aspirations of being more and doing more.
Webb is approached with a tip about a small time local drug dealer but when he finds out that the American government may be involved in a larger sense with cocaine and crack in the Los Angeles area, the seemingly small tip opens the door to a world of conspiracy that folks with a lot to lose have no interest in being truthful about.
The film is a true story, based on the book on the life of Gary Webb, who was a real life Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Unfortunately the CIA’s knowledge of drug smuggling to America to supply rebels in Nicaragua is also true. But when Webb first reported on the story, although he made waves in the world of journalism, he also brought about a wrath from the government and his counterparts in the world of journalism. An overnight sensation, he was lauded for his story by the public, but almost as quickly as he rose to fame, he was demonized and ridiculed for his story as well. The title holds very true, as everyone begins to metaphorically and sometimes literally kill the messenger.
Jeremy Renner (The Bourne Series) does an incredible job portraying Gary Webb, while Michael K. Williams appears as “Freeway” Rick Ross the infamous drug dealer. The film also includes appearance from Ray Liotta, Michael Sheen, Andy Garcia, Oliver Platt and Rosemarie DeWitt.
The film can be a learning tool and or it can serve to honor the life and legacy of Gary Webb. Either way, it demands to be watched and talked about. In the world that we live in today it is a reminder that conspiracies do exist.
Kill The Messenger receives a PAR
Rating:
P…Horrible
PA…Tolerable
PAR…Good
PARL… Kinda Great
PARLÉ… Classic
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