- 8
The Messenger honors those who fought and died in Iraq by acting out, with an anguished handheld immediacy, how large each of those sacrifices really is.
—Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly
- 8
The Messenger is not itself grueling, which is practically a miracle. Rather, this pungent little chamber piece offers a full yet delicate range of emotions, and it humanizes its characters so that polemics are left in the background.
—Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune
- 8
...vividly touching and vital...
—Peter Travers Rolling Stone
- 8
...a moving and nuanced drama...
—Aaron Hillis Village Voice
- 8
The Messenger knows that even if it tells a tearjerking story, it doesn't have to be a tearjerker. In fact, when a sad story tries too hard, it can be fatal. You have to be the one coming to your own realization about the sadness. Moverman and his screenwriter, Alessandro Camon, born in Italy, have made a very particularly American story, alert to nuances of speech and behavior. All particular stories are universal, inviting us to look in instead of pandering to us. This one looks at the faces of war. Only a few, but they represent so many.
—Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times
- 8
It serves as a powerful companion piece to The Hurt Locker, the most powerful movie about the Iraq War and one of the year's best.
—Claudia Puig USA Today
- 7
—Ryan Stewart Slant Magazine
- 5
Many scenes in The Messenger feel merely illustrative, not designed to develop characters and story so much as to make the point, over and over, that the home front can be as harrowing as the front lines.
—Noel Murray Onion AV Club