Kill the Messenger is reminiscent of All The President’s Men, writes BRIAN VINER!

A powerful political thriller in many ways reminiscent of All The President’s Men, Alan J. Pakula’s 1976 film about the Watergate conspiracy, Kill The Messenger tells the true story of a dogged investigative reporter for an unfashionable Californian newspaper, who uncovered what he called a ‘dark alliance’ between the CIA, Nicaraguan rebels and cocaine traffickers. It was in 1995 that Gary Webb, of the San Jose Mercury News (splendidly played by Jeremy Renner), received a phone call from a woman claiming to have evidence that a drugs baron was on the CIA payroll.

Webb duly discovered that during Ronald Reagan’s presidency, vast profits from selling crack cocaine, mainly in South Central Los Angeles, had been piped back to Nicaragua to support the U.S.-backed Contras. It was a huge story, and yet it broke around the time that the media were more interested in Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky’s dress. Michael Cuesta’s film is itself just as interested in the efforts by the government and even other newspapers to discredit Webb, who paid a high personal price for his journalistic triumphs. It’s no surprise to find that Cuesta has also directed episodes of the superb TV drama Homeland; he knows how to escalate tension, and also how to fold his protagonist’s domestic dramas into the story. Rosemarie DeWitt is terrific as Webb’s long-suffering wife, and part of a top-notch supporting cast also including Michael Sheen, Ray Liotta, Andy Garcia and Paz Vega.
Share on Google Plus

Powered by Blogger.