Woody Harrelson will participate in an onstage conversation about his career and will be presented the MVFF award. Following the screening of The Messenger, Harrelson will be joined by for a Q&A with the audience. Directly following the program don’t miss the reception at Tiburon’s hottest new restaurant, Tiburon Grill, featuring wine, cocktails and a delicious array of fresh, contemporary cuisine.

The Messenger: At the US military’s Casualty Notification Office, there is “no such thing as a satisfied customer.” With that piece of glib advice—and one other: “Never touch the next of kin”—Capt. Tony Stone (played to high-strung perfection by Woody Harrelson) welcomes young co-worker Sgt. Will Montgomery (Ben Foster, with echoes of a young Robert Duvall) into the sad folds of American history. Their mission: Deliver the death report, along with a souvenir memorial flag, to the next of kin of those killed in the course of duty. Stone is bitter and possessed by demons from his past, while still greater forces pull his gentler partner toward a young war widow (a brilliantly subtle Samantha Morton). Examining the complexity of grief, pain and loss without manipulating the emotions, Oren Moverman’s The Messenger (winner of the Silver Bear for Best Screenplay at the Berlin Film Festival) delivers its missive as gently as a kiss, with a message like a punch in the gut. —Karen Davis
Woody Harrelson

A basketballer who can’t jump but can sure shoot (White Men Can’t Jump); a free-speech-obsessed pornographer magnate (The People vs. Larry Flynt); and a gleaming cowboy assassin (No Country for Old Men) are a testament to the ambitious range of the larger-than-life roles Woody Harrelson has brought to the big screen. Capable of oozing playful bravado one moment and tapping his reserve of deep humanism the next, this American icon has endeared himself to a public hungry for Harrelson’s brand of toothsome antics blended with a generosity of spirit. His skill for endowing the big-hearted buffoon with realistic dimensions is rooted in early years spent in the theater, and a long-standing gig as Woody Boyd on the sitcom Cheers. In his latest, the Oren Moverman–helmed romantic wartime drama The Messenger, Harrelson re-engages a fascination with the ethics of war that he first poignantly explored with another breakout performance in The Thin Red Line. –Ilya Tovbis

Total Program: 152 Minutes

Running time: 112
Country: US
Category: US Cinema
Directed by: Oren Moverman
Producers: Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zach Miller, Ben Goldhirsh
Screenwriters: Oren Moverman, Alessandro Camon
Cinematographer: Bobby Bukowski
Editor: Alex Hall
Cast: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson, Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn Walker

Ticket Codes:
     TRIB15P - Tribute and Reception

Print Source:
Oscilloscope Pictures
511 Canal Street 5E
New York, NY 10013