Kill the Messenger (DVD REVIEW)
Kill
the Messenger
DVD Review by Kam Williams
True Tale Recounts How CIA First Introduced Crack to the
‘Hood
In August of
1996, the San Jose Mercury News published an eye-opening expose’ detailing
exactly how the Central Intelligence Agency had orchestrated the importation of
crack cocaine from Nicaragua as well as its distribution in the black community
of South Central Los Angeles. Entitled “Dark Alliance,” the 20,000-word series
was written by Gary Webb (Jeremy Renner), an investigative journalist who’d
risked life and limb to release the incendiary information.
For, in the midst of
conducting his research, he had been asked “Do you have a family?” by a CIA
operative trying to intimidate him into killing the article. The spy agency was
ostensibly determined to suppress any facts which might shed light on its covert
dealings with the Contras, the rebels attempting to topple the government of Nicaragua.
But Webb, already a
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, would not be intimidated and went with the
piece. And even though he had supported his shocking allegations with
declassified documents obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, the
Establishment secretly enlisted the assistance of the New York Times, the
Washington Post and the L.A. Times to discredit him.
These prominent papers pooh-poohed
the very notion that the CIA could possibly be behind the dissemination of crack
in the inner-city. Nevertheless, “Dark Alliance” became the biggest story of
the year, especially among African-Americans, many of whom surfed the internet
for the first time in order to read the damning report.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters
(D-CA) took to the floor to warn that “Somebody’s going to have to pay for what
they have done to my people.” Yet, the revelations seemed to take the greatest
toll on Gary Webb, who lost his good name, his job, his career, his home, and
even the love of his wife (Rosemarie DeWitt ) in due course.
This shameful chapter in
American history is the subject of Kill the Messenger, a sobering biopic
directed by Michael Cuesta and starring Jeremy Renner. The film features an
A-list cast also including Ray Liotta, Barry Pepper, Tim Blake Nelson, Andy
Garcia, Oliver Platt, Michael Sheen, Robert Patrick and Paz Vega.
However, make no mistake,
this riveting thriller is a Renner vehicle, and the two-time Academy
Award-nominee (for The Hurt Locker and The Town) delivers another Oscar-quality
performance as a family man/respected writer slowly turned into a paranoid soul
haunted by demons and hunted by Machiavellian mercenaries drunk with power. A
cautionary tale about what might easily transpire whenever the Fourth Estate is
willing to serve as the Fifth Column rather than as a government watchdog.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated
R for profanity and drug use
Running
time: 112 minutes
Distributor:
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Blu-ray/DVD
Combo Pack Extras: Feature commentary with director Michael Cuesta; deleted
scenes commentary with commentary by Michael Cuesta; Kill the Messenger: The
All-Star Cast; Crack in America;
and Filming in Georgia.
To
see a trailer for Kill the Messenger, visit:
To
order Kill the Messenger on Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, visit:
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