That being said, this is my first ever review of a film here on IMDb, so it may be a bit rough. I felt compelled enough to write something about it, somewhere after viewing it for the first time. I had almost, to my utter shame, had forgotten to view this film until today after looking forward to it.
Not many films today are interested in telling the truth when it comes to the depths of U.S. government corruption.
For the film itself:
- Very well acted; Jeremy Renner did an absolute service by portraying Gary Webb as well as the actors portraying his family or co-workers. He should get an award, but probably won't.
- Well paced and more than watchable for yourself, friends, or family; there are certainly some tense moments, and the ending act will certainly hits some emotional chords
- While the movie doesn't totally scratch the surface of Gary Webb's research, it does a pretty good job of it (as I said earlier, please do read into it after watching this film)
- The DVD/Bluray release also contain some great interviews from the actors whom also revere Gary Webb; The ending of the film is made in such a way for you, the viewer to be rightly suspicious of the government with an eagerness to know much more
In Closing/Other Thoughts:
Kill The Messenger, to me was certainly one of the important films to have been released in 2014. It is a microcosm in understanding why not only the government is corrupt today, but why mainstream media has become laughably inept. There is little interest in telling the truth when your career could be on the line or your life. Gary Webb risked his career and dream to do what journalists are supposed to do. Many like him have also suffered, but without them we wouldn't have had the meteoric rise of Independent Media platforms.
The failure that is the War on Drugs combined with the CIA/Contra revelations are only the tip of the scale when it comes to the crimes the U.S. government and its agencies get away with decade after decade.
From spying on the American public, falsifying information for Illegal Wars abroad, Assassinations, the so called "War on Drugs" that has turned the U.S. into a Prison Industry, to the CIA's and U.S. government's long and colored history of overthrowing Democratic countries spanning both Democratic and Republican Presidencies.
At the time Gary Webb had made it clear that there were unintentional consequences of what the CIA did. Whether or not that's the case, everything the U.S. leaves behind in its destructive wake against its own people and other people everywhere else is highly Intentional. Someone who pulls a trigger or lies or colludes is doing so intentionally.
In the film there is real footage of an interviewed figure at the time that claimed "there are no conspiracies in America" in their response to the breaking CIA/Contra story, which is highly untrue and pure fantasy, considering how much has been documented over decades now. And indeed, and likely to their embarrassment, in 1998 it was finally revealed to indeed have been a conspiracy with the CIA's involvement.
But then again, not acknowledging government crimes would be as if Julius Caesar simply committed suicide and was merely found with multiple self-inflicted stab wounds.