A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.
Drugs, government, truths, mustaches. "Kill the Messenger" is an admirable journalism thriller that takes on a lot of big subjects.
– Adam Graham,
Detroit News,
10 Oct 2014
rotten:
A resonant journalistic cautionary tale gets packaged as a hokey thriller in Kill the Messenger, a movie with a message that isn't nearly as urgent as it needs to be.
– Liam Lacey,
Globe and Mail,
10 Oct 2014
fresh:
It's oversold and under-reported. But Kill the Messenger flies high on Jeremy Renner's all-stops-out performance as 1990s-era journalist Gary Webb. Flaws aside, the film inspires a moral outrage that feels disconcertingly timely.
– Peter Travers,
Rolling Stone,
10 Oct 2014
rotten:
Cliches and obviousness litter the movie.
– Wesley Morris,
Grantland,
10 Oct 2014
fresh:
Kill the Messenger does a credible if not dazzling job. In fact, the movie is a lot like the reporting that inspired it: a good introduction to a diabolically tangled tale.