Kill the Messenger (2014) on Netflix
R20141h 52mBiographyCrimeDramaMysteryThriller
Gary Webb, a reporter at the San Jose Mercury News, gets a leaked grand jury transcript from Coral Baca. He traces California cocaine sales to the Nicaraguan Contras.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.9/1050,482 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes77%
Trailer
Plot summary
Gary Webb writes for the San Jose Mercury News. His article on civil asset forfeiture, built on an interview with the drug dealer Ronny Quail, brings a call from Coral Baca, who says she has documents showing that the government backed cocaine sales in the United States. She gives Webb a transcript of secret grand jury testimony that reached her boyfriend, an accused drug dealer. Webb follows the case of Rick Ross and the dealings of Oscar Danilo Blandón, and in a Managua prison Norwin Meneses tells him about cocaine profits routed to the Nicaraguan Contras. Fred Weil, who worked on the Kerry Committee report, warns Webb about the subject, and federal agents tell him not to publish.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Kill the Messenger (2014)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
SPOILER
Gary Webb, the reporter whose story the film tells, was found dead in his apartment in 2004, shot twice in the head; his death was ruled a suicide.- Focus Features gave Kill the Messenger a total of 448 national television advertisements, while its other fall release Theory of Everything was aired nationally 3,046 times, largely on major networks such as ABC, NBC, CBS and MTV.
- The lack of advertising for the film and its rapid retraction from theaters led to a petition on Change.org on November 24, 2014 entitled "Focus Features: Support Gary Webb and Re-Release Kill the Messenger in Theaters."
- Jeremy Renner joined the film as star and producer before funding had been secured, and helped to get the film financed independently.
