Tag Archives: Gary Webb

Kill the Messenger (2014)

My Rating: 4/5

Kill the Messenger is based on a true story; it’s about a courageous man who blew the whistle on CIA and paid the price for it.

Journalists have always played a big part in political thrillers and Kill the Messenger is no exception, in fact it is a biographical film based on a reporter’s life.

In the mid 1990s Gary Webb was a happily married man, a loving father and a reporter with great instincts, and as a professional he wholeheartedly believed in finding the truth and sharing it.

But some stories are so dangerously true that sharing them has their own consequences.

The film Kill the Messenger focuses on Gary Webb’s life that took a summersault when he, in spite of being warned by the authorities, openly published his articles by the name of “Dark Alliance” that reveals CIA’s involvement in drug trafficking.

Now many blame CIA for everything that’s going wrong in today’s world but fortunately Kill the Messenger only concerns with the event of CIA importing huge amounts of drugs (cocaine) to be sold in the ghettos all across US to raise money for arming the Contra rebels of Nicaragua.

Remember it’s a true story!

Director Michael Cuesta has done a good job maintaining the thrill and suspense elements intact throughout the film. He has concentrated more on Gary Webb’s life than the actual CIA scandal.

The look and feel of the film, the in-between montages of real footages cleverly blended, even the color tones – all add up to make the film more realistic. Sean Bobbitt as the cinematographer needs to be mentioned.

Jeremy Renner playing the central character does a great job; it’s through his performance that the audience can actually connect to the story in an emotional level. Relations with his wife and his eldest son are very well weaved into the main storyline.

The film is worth watching for those who enjoy political dramas or even biographical films and Cameos by Andy Garcia and Ray Liotta.

P.S. – Let me know if this film reminds you of Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford starrer All the President’s Men (1976).