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Poster for Kill the Messenger

Kill the Messenger

Can you keep a national secret?

2014 · 1h 52m · R Crime, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller
Directed by Michael Cuesta

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Overview

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.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
78%
Tomatometer
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.

Mark Jenkins, NPR
Rotten

Cliches and obviousness litter the movie.

Wesley Morris, Grantland
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
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
Fresh

Drugs, government, truths, mustaches. "Kill the Messenger" is an admirable journalism thriller that takes on a lot of big subjects.

Adam Graham, Detroit News

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