'Kill the Messenger': True-life tragedy about CIA, drugs, reporter

Kill the Messenger, a passionate true-life drama about the reporter who exposed the CIA's use of drug money to fund the contras in the 1980s, opens with a series of news clips about two American obsessions: drugs and Soviet aggression.

Rapidly paced and expertly edited, the sequence shows presidents from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan declaring wars on both.

The drug problem, Reagan says in one clip, has become a serious threat to our national security. In another, he speaks of the danger of Nicaragua's falling into communist hands.

Kill the Messenger then plunges us through Alice's mirror into a strange world where these two wars converge.

Set in 1996, the story is about a series of investigative articles written by Gary Webb for his newspaper, the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News, exposing how the CIA helped import massive quantities of cocaine into the United States and used the profits to fund the anti-communist contras in Nicaragua. (The influx of cocaine during this period is credited with launching the crack epidemic.)

Based on journalist Nick Schou's Webb biography and directed by Michael Cuesta (Tell-Tale, 12 and Holding), Kill the Messenger does a fine job of dramatizing Webb's reporting. The suspense reminds one of All the President's Men, if the structure and writing pale in comparison.

Webb, portrayed with sensitivity bordering on reverence by Jeremy Renner, began his quest when he discovered that the federal government had allowed drug trafficker Danilo Blandon (Yul Vazquez) to continue his trade in exchange for his testimony against other dealers.

Blandon eventually admitted in open court that he wasn't simply an informant. He imported coke on behalf of the CIA.

For his trouble, Webb was discredited by the government and the national media, which reacted with incredulity to his claims.

Some attacked him for inaccurate reporting. Others took apart his life, exposing embarrassing details from his past.

As one of Webb's sources tells him, the truth isn't killed by guns these days, but by gossip. By changing the story from Webb's reportage to his character, the media silenced him.

Webb left journalism and committed suicide seven years later at age 49. He was later vindicated by the same newspapers that had attacked him.

Kill the Messenger moves at a nice clip and is enriched by a fine supporting cast, incuding Rosemarie DeWitt, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Paz Vega, Barry Pepper, Oliver Platt, and Andy Garcia.

Yet 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.

Directed by Michael Cuesta. With Jeremy Renner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Barry Pepper, Oliver Platt, Andy Garcia. Distributed by Focus Features.

Running time: 1 hour, 52 mins.

Parent's guide: R (profanity, some mild violence, drug use, smoking).

Playing at: area theaters.

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