Kill the Messenger
Focus Features | Release Date: October 10, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 36 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
15
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
VarietyAndrew BarkerSep 26, 2014
The film taps into far deeper, richer veins of material than it has the time to properly mine. It’s nonetheless a flinty, brainy, continually engrossing work that straddles the lines between biopic, political thriller and journalistic cautionary tale, driven by Jeremy Renner’s most complete performance since The Hurt Locker. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniOct 10, 2014
It hobbles its otherwise fascinating premise by descending into hagiography. Webb's story is a tragedy, to be sure, but portraying him as a saint and martyr does little to advance the truth. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyOct 10, 2014
That the filmmakers are able to pursue their theme to the extent that the true story on which the film is based obliges them to somehow has to be credited to Renner. His performance is very good, despite the somewhat stereotypical bro characteristics with which the Webb character is here endowed. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerOct 10, 2014
What hits home is Renner’s performance, which gives full weight both to Webb’s fierce, abiding love for journalism and his despair when his livelihood – his reason for being – is trashed. It’s a tragedy, doubly so since the core of Webb’s allegations remains unchallenged today. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 9, 2014
Jeremy Renner doesn’t put much movie-star mustard on his performance as a newspaper reporter in Kill the Messenger, and that’s one of the reasons the work is so strong. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia PuigOct 9, 2014
As suspenseful as any episode of Showtime's "Homeland," which director Michael Cuesta also executive-produced. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 9, 2014
Kill the Messenger is compelling material but the recognition that the core of the narrative is based on true events gives it additional power. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsOct 9, 2014
While the chronological details and social significance of the story Webb reported get shortchanged, Kill the Messenger is a vital reminder that a free press must be free to press the powerful for answers. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreOct 7, 2014
Renner’s performance — beginning with bluster and descending into twitchy paranoia — sells it and makes us fret for every “messenger” suddenly the target of the spotlight himself. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinOct 9, 2014
Michael Cuesta’s Kill the Messenger made me so angry over the apparent injustice done to its journalist hero, Gary Webb (Jeremy Renner), that I found it hard to remain in my seat. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 9, 2014
The visual choices in the movie, including all the close-ups of Gary’s face as it lightens and darkens, help create the sense that something deeply personal is at stake. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzOct 9, 2014
[Renner's] outstanding as a man passionate about his work. His character is not perfect — just ask his wife and children — but he is certainly a good man trying to do good things. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranOct 9, 2014
This pulpy, energetic film is a fast-moving and entertaining tale. Read full review
70
The New YorkerDavid DenbyOct 6, 2014
Jeremy Renner is the main reason to see Kill the Messenger. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthySep 26, 2014
Renner appears completely immersed in his role and when the clouds of doubt accumulate and the man becomes a professional pariah, it's a painful thing to see. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyJoe McGovernOct 8, 2014
Director Michael Cuesta (Homeland) includes just enough real news footage among the heavily scripted scenes to make you crave a documentary on Webb instead. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversFeb 4, 2015
Flaws aside, Kill the Messenger inspires a moral outrage that feels disconcertingly timely. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyOct 9, 2014
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. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTom RussoOct 9, 2014
It’s an engrossing portrait not only of government intrigue and crusading after the truth, but of media and their tangled motivations. Engrossing enough, in fact, that Cuesta needn’t try as hard as he occasionally does to heighten the drama and give it added flash. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanOct 9, 2014
Despite the film’s heavy-handed effort at vindication, Renner manages to deliver a performance that is complex and satisfyingly contradictory. Read full review
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