Next week, I’ll be writing the unnecessary sequel to Polly and Max: Time’s Up, but this week I’m writing the pulpy film Kill The Messenger.
Kill The Messenger is a dark crime film about a Mob Messenger named Michael DuPinto. He’s a low level employee of a major crime syndicate. His job is to deliver messages from his higher ups to companies and store fronts that pay protection money. It’s a pretty easy job. He goes to the stores, sets the protection rate, and picks it up in a week or so. If he has a problem, he’ll call in bigger guns to rough people up. He never gets hurt, and he usually gets a small enough piece of the action to make it worth his while.
One day, his boss, Big Goat, tells him to pick up money from a Dry Cleaners he’s been having problems with. They’ve been short on payments a few times. As Michael arrives, he sees his muscle leaving the cleaners. They say, the pick up is all taken care of. Michael says ok, but feeling a little suspicious he goes into the cleaners and the owner, played by a Tony Shaloub type, says that he can’t keep paying the protection money if goes up every week. Michael says the rates been the same, and he realizes the muscle has been skimming off the top. The muscle however stayed behind long enough to find out Michael is onto their scheme. Michael realizes this and runs out the back of the cleaners.
The muscle come back in and then kill the cleaners owner and frame Michael for it. They tell Big Goat before Michael can tell his side of the story and Michael is a marked man. The entire mob is now after him because he’s been stealing and Michael has to find a “safe house” type place. The only place safe for him to go is to the Dry Cleaners wife’s apt. She’s conveniently hot. Michael tells her they killed her husband and the only way to expose the real truth is for her to let him in. She does and he tells her everything. The muscle eventually track him down there, leaving a lot of dead bodies in their wake, but he and Lorna, the cleaners’ wife have left. Big Goat grows increasingly angry with the muscle and says that if Michael isn’t dead within 24 hours, he’ll have everyone wiped out (which makes no sense for a crime syndicate).
As the chase draws on and the chemistry between Michael and Lorna builds, it’s clear that the only way Michael is going to get out of this alive, is if he gets his hands dirty. Michaels going to have to kill the muscle. After getting the evidence he needs to clear his name in the eyes of Big Goat, Michael and Lorna have some victory sex cause why not, and they go to the only guy left Michael can trust, his dirty cop brother, Sam. Sam gets them some weapons and untraceable cell phones and other stuff. Michael uses the phone to tell the muscle where to meet him. He wants to give himself up. Right when they arrive at the warehouse location, Sam and Lorna begin opening fire on the muscle. They kill 4 of them, but they brought backup. Sam, Lorna and Michael all get into a cool but bloody gunfight and Sam sustains serious injury before calling in for backup. He tells Michael and Lorna to get out of there and they run away. The cops get there and kill most of the muscle. Basically Michael lured them into a trap that would get them either arrested or killed. The few that remain alive are taken to prison where they claim they’ll never talk.
As that is happening Michael got to Big Goat, giving him the proof to clear his name and stuff and Goat has his guys on the inside take out the remaining muscle. Goat says he’ll give Michael 1 million dollars and an elevated position within the syndicate for loyalty. Michael says he’ll take the money, but he wants to take Lorna and get out completely. Go legit. Goat says it’s something he wishes he could have done years ago. He grants Michael his freedom.
The next scene is the obligatory beachfront scene where we see everything has worked out and Michael runs a small bar in Hawaii. We see a bunch of street thugs come up to his bar offering protection for a fee. Michael smiles at the camera and says “Lets talk” (it’s assumed he’s super tough now and can kill them if he wants).