Capsule Film Review: Kill the Messenger (2014)

in #film5 years ago

In 1970s Watergate scandal, at least for a brief moment, convinced many that the era of political corruption, illegal surveillance and protracted questionable wars was over. Many also believed that few intrepid reporters have the tools to bring down the most powerful politicians and expose the worst scandals. Nowadays we know better, and 2014 film Kill the Messenger is a story of a journalist who learned that truth in the most tragic way. In it Jeremy Renner plays Gary Webb, reporter of San Jose Mercury News who in 1990s discovered links between Latin American drug smugglers and CIA, forged a decade earlier during Cold War, when US government tried to topple pro-Soviet regime in Nicaragua. Film describes how Webb wrote "Dark Alliance", series of articles which described how CIA and federal government allowed drug bosses to operate with impunity and infest inner cities with crack cocaine. Webb, however, didn’t enjoy his moment of glory for a long; major mainstream media turned against him and questioned his claims, later forcing his employers to do the same, which would ultimately cost Webb his family and job. Kill the Messenger, directed by Michael Cuesta and written by journalist Peter Landesman, is a thought-provoking film and very relevant in today’s world of Manning, Assange and Snowden. However, it still fails to answer why "dark alliance" continued in 1990s and, which is even more important, fails to deal with media’s complicity in it.

RATING: 6/10

Sort:  

Thanks for using eSteem!
Your post has been voted as a part of eSteem encouragement program. Keep up the good work! Install Android, iOS Mobile app or Windows, Mac, Linux Surfer app, if you haven't already!
Learn more: https://esteem.app
Join our discord: https://discord.gg/8eHupPq

Congratulations @drax! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :

You received more than 2000 upvotes. Your next target is to reach 3000 upvotes.

Click here to view your Board
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word STOP

Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard:

Valentine challenge - Love is in the air!

Support SteemitBoard's project! Vote for its witness and get one more award!

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.36
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70446.49
ETH 3571.68
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.73