Kill the Messenger (2014)

Jono

Jedi Master
FOTCM Member
_http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1216491/

Just finished watching this film. Based on a true story, it's about an investigative reporter who gains access to confidential files exposing the CIA's complicity with the US crack cocaine trade. The creators do a great job of portraying the hardships endured by the reporter and the difficult decisions he must make in order to publish any truth about the matter.

Although it only touches on the tip of the ice berg as far as government corruption goes, it may be a good film to watch with family and friends.
 
I found this very hard to watch.

I had to stop and catch my breath before going on at the scene where the NYT made the decision to throw Gary Webb under the bus rather than lend its own force to breaking the story open further. Cowardly, and evil. -Which was to be expected, given the CIA/Media relationship, but it was still sickening to watch.

I don't know if I buy the director's take on what happened wrt Gary's emotional state and subsequent death, but the larger story elements were fascinating and well-realized.

Nonetheless, a very well-made film. I'd recommend it to anybody interested in understanding this stuff.

I'd also recommend in the same vein viewing, "Citizenfour" about Edward Snowden. (An actual documentary with no actors or directorial conjecture). The two films allow insight into each other.

I'm surprised there's no thread on that film here yet.
 
What is more suspicious is that, in reality the journalist commited suicide, by shooting himself in the head twice. How the heck was that possible?
 
You should check out the original book by Gary Webb as well titled "Dark Alliance: the CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion" http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Alliance-Contras-Cocaine-Explosion/dp/1888363932/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423776336&sr=1-2&keywords=gary+webb+dark+alliance
 
Bruce said:
You should check out the original book by Gary Webb as well titled "Dark Alliance: the CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion" http://www.amazon.com/Dark-Alliance-Contras-Cocaine-Explosion/dp/1888363932/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1423776336&sr=1-2&keywords=gary+webb+dark+alliance


YES!!! Hollywood couldn't go all of the places that Webb exposed in Dark Alliance. It cost him his life.

The movie wasn't bad though. The open war on journalism has grown much more audacious since then.
 
Woodsman said:
I'd also recommend in the same vein viewing, "Citizenfour" about Edward Snowden. (An actual documentary with no actors or directorial conjecture). The two films allow insight into each other.

I'm surprised there's no thread on that film here yet.

And still no thread after a quick search. It is a great documentary and I would second that recommendation.
 
MikeJoseph82 said:
Woodsman said:
I'd also recommend in the same vein viewing, "Citizenfour" about Edward Snowden. (An actual documentary with no actors or directorial conjecture). The two films allow insight into each other.

I'm surprised there's no thread on that film here yet.

And still no thread after a quick search. It is a great documentary and I would second that recommendation.

Feel free to begin a thread on it.

Re 'Kill the Messenger', I liked it too. Webb's articles were a serious problem for the Secret Elite, and so he had to be 'controversialized' to bury the story, then 'suicided' to stop him pursuing it.
 
Saw it a couple of days ago. In short, depressing. Great movie though, Renner delivers it.

*spoiler*

Giving it a few thoughts, and only limiting them to the movie's boundaries, it seems that Webb was willing to directly confront the Secret Team without much strategy. In the movie, this guy is portrayed as naive and somewhat reckless (on the up side, he is also portrayed as strong-willed). And although the facts could be not entirely accurate. In the end, that saying "smart as a snake..." came to mind.
 
Niall said:
Feel free to begin a thread on it.

My mistake I'm sorry. I did the search for 'citizenfour' but not 'citizen four'. There is already a thread about it here _http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,36308.msg528764.html#msg528764
 
I watched this film again recently after several years since I last saw it. I had purchased a copy of this not long after it came out on DVD and watched it with my partner last night who had not seen it before. She enjoyed it and was a bit shocked that it was based on a true story. The film is still brilliant (imo) with some big name actors appearing in it. There was a scene with Ray Liotta's CIA character "John Cullen" who showed up in Webb's bedroom one night telling him he uncovered a monster. It reminded me of the "Mr. X" character from Oliver Stone's film "JFK".

Thinking back, this story was a big "red pill" moment for me. I had seen or heard mentioned on tv news at the time about his death and his articles in the paper. I then did a search for him online and my reaction was "Wait....what?!"

Gary Webb's book "Dark Alliance: The CIA, The Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion" is available on Amazon Kindle.
 
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