“Some stories are just too true to tell”, says a character in Michael Cuesta’s “Kill the Messenger” (2014) indicating at how one’s pursuit for verity could only wake monsters in the slumber state. Gary Webb, an investigative journalist for San Jose Mercury News, aroused one such behemoth, when he wrote an explosive article about cocaine profits being used to facilitate the CIA-backed contra rebels to buy weapons for the Nicaraguan civil war of the 1980’s. This was the 1980’s, when the American government was obsessed over two things: war against Soivet aggression in the Latin American soil and war on drugs.
The movie starts by showing us the well-edited speeches of former
American Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan declaring war on drugs.
Reagan says the drug problem has become a threat on national security and on
another clip, he says that there’s danger of Nicaragua, falling into communist’s
hands. The largest but sparsely populated Nicaragua is a strategically
significant country for America that just can’t fully embrace the communism or
socialism. But, the Congress declined to fund for the war against the socialist
government in Nicaragua. Gary Webb’s three part series called “Dark Alliance”
asserts that this is where the atrocious act started.
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| The Real (left) and reel Gary Webb |
The CIA is said to have ignored or turned a blind eye as
some of the CIA supported Nicaraguan contras or rebels smuggled tons of cocaine
into US, especially Los Angeles. The drug money is alleged to have been used in
buying the equipments and weapons for the guerrilla warfare against the Nicaraguan
government. Gary Webb, played by Jeremy Renner, exposed this alleged connection
in the mid 1990’s, when he was working in San Jose Mercury News’ Sacramento
bureau. From the early 1990’s Webb was doing a story on government’s seizure of
drug dealers’ properties, even when the accused get acquitted. The story gets
the attention of Coral Boca (Paz Vega), whose Nicaraguan boyfriend is a
drug-dealer.
She calls Webb to write an article on her boyfriend, about
how he was framed by bogus charges. Initially, Webb wasn't interested, but misplaced
courts file in the hands of Boca intrigues Webb. The file talks about
heavyweight drug trafficker Danilo Blandon’s (Yul Vazquez), who is a government
informant on the drug cases. The mere mention of Blandon’s name to the
prosecutor frees Boca’s boyfriend, but Webb goes to seek the bigger picture
behind Blandon’s involvement. The trail leads him to incarcerated drug kingpin Ricky
Ross (Michael K. Williams), who attests that the Nicaraguan Blandon is the
biggest drug supplier in South Central L.A.
When Webb travels to Nicaragua he finds the connection
between the CIA-backed Nicaraguan contra Blandon and the crack epidemic that
was unleashed on the poor African-Americans of South Central L.A. The story is
far beyond the reach of Mercury News, but Webb is initially well-backed by the
senior editor (Oliver Platt) and news editor (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). The three-part
article by Webb sparks outrageous reactions against the CIA, especially among
the African-American community of L.A. The government agency initially tries to
frighten Webb, and later it tries, along with the help of other big wig
media-houses, tries to discredit his story. The ‘Dark Alliance’ brought dark
things into Webb’s life that he didn’t deserve.
Unlike many Hollywood ‘based on true story’ movies, Webb’s
story is largely presented in a truthful manner. Director Cuesta doesn’t shy
away from pointing out Webb’s flawed personal life. He finely brings out those
tense discussions between Webb and his wife (Rosemarie Dewitt). The scene when
Webb confesses about his adulterous relationship with a reporter to his son,
Ian was brilliantly acted by all the involved players, especially Jeremy
Renner. The forces that collide to bring about the death to Webb’s professional
credibility was contrived little too simply with blatantly expository
dialogues. But, once again these portions are saved by the performances.
Nevertheless, Cuesta does often veer into hagiography territory by not pointing
out the flaws in his reporting(lack of evidence or thin sourcing) and rather
showcases all the accusations against Webb like it was a witch-hunt.
Peter Landesman’s script was based on two books – Gary Webb’s
“Dark Alliance” and Nick Schou’s “Kill the Messenger”. The script moves in the fairly
straight-froward political thriller template, but misses out on producing the
tautness we found in 1970’s thrillers like “All the President’s Men”, Parallax
View”. Director Cuesta tries to up the ante by using some visual cues we found
in those old-time conspiracy thrillers, especially in that shot when Renner
walks in the parking lot, followed by a mysterious guy. The supporting cast for
the movie boasts talented performers like Ray Liotta, Michael Sheen, Andy
Garcia, Oliver Platt, and Tim Blake Nelson.
“Kill the Messenger” (112 minutes) is smart and well-acted.
Despite few missteps and flaws in the film, it deserves to be watched for
knowing about a man, who was brought down for exposing an ugly truth.
Trailer
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