DVDs OF THE WEEK

THE MESSENGER ****
Dir: Oren Moverman. Starring: Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, Samantha Morton

UNTHINKABLE ****
Dir: Gregor Jordan. Starring: Samuel L Jackson, Michael Sheen, Carrie-Anne Moss

Films about the ‘War on Terror' were notoriously unsuccessful at the box office. Even Oscar favourite The Hurt Locker was the lowest-grossing Best Picture winner in recent memory. But a little time has passed now and, as it should, Hollywood is still examining the ramifications of that conflict.
These are two very different films, but both make you think and examine preconceptions you might have about the situations that the various protagonists find themselves in.
The Messenger is the more subtle of the two. It follows Ben Foster's injured Staff Sergeant, who is recuperating in America. He is assigned to the Casualty Notification Team along with Harrelson career Captain who teaches him the very precise protocols involved with the job.
Now that doesn't sound like a lot to be going on in the movie (there are, of course, subplots), but it turns out to be absolutely engrossing. In the same way that David Fincher's Zodiac or The Social Network revel in the fascinating minutiae of their subjects so The Messenger takes you into the tiny details involved in the soldiers sad task and slowly draws you into the minds and hearts of the characters.
Woody Harrelson was Oscar-nominated and is superb. He really is an underrated actor, happily able to play low-budget crazy but also capable of subtle nuanced work such as this.
Unthinkable is a whole different cup of meat and subtlety isn't entirely a priority. It takes a very simple scenario and examines it: Michael Sheen is a terrorist who has allowed himself to be captured and claims to have planted bombs in four American cities. How far should the authorities go to extract that information (if he is to be believed)? Samuel L Jackson is the interrogation ‘specialist' who will do anything; others have various degrees of reservations about ‘harsher' methods of interrogation.
It's not subtle, but it is powerful. And it does force you to confront issues that you might prefer to avoid. But mainly it's just a very exciting bare-knuckle thriller.

Disney decided after number two that the Narnia franchise wasn't sufficiently profitable so on-sold it to Fox. It hasn't made a noticeable difference. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (***) ditches the older kids and opens with Lucy and Edmund staying with their obnoxious cousin Eustace. In no time the trio are whisked back to Narnia where events that put the future of the land in jeopardy are swift to arrive. The swordfighting rat, Prince Caspian and Aslan are all on board, the new creatures are fun, and director Michael Apted is a safe pair of hands, leading to possibly the best in the series so far.

Those wanting a fast-paced action thriller, be warned, The American (****) is not that, despite the cover blurb and picture. Instead, it is a tense character study as George Clooney's lonely paranoid hit-man holes up in rural Italy, building a special gun for a mysterious client. Actually, paranoid isn't quite accurate as there really are people out to get him. Director Anton Corbijn brings impressive control and visual sense, and the result is suspenseful, thoughtful, and very European, even if the ‘assassin trying to escape his past' plot is a little worn.

There are several awards on the cover of horror outing Finale (***). On closer inspection most seem to involve ‘independent spirit' and, stylistically, this certainly stands apart, following in the footsteps of 1970s Italian Giallo films from the likes of Dario Argento. The result accurately recreates that sub-genre's colourful low-budget melodramatics as a mother investigates her son's supposed suicide and finds demonic evil and other delirious craziness. J-horror tricks add spice and indie lovers will mark writer/director John Michael Elfers as one to watch. Now please give the man a decent budget!