Kill the Messenger

After relocating with his family to California, Gary Webb is a seasoned and respected reporter at the San Jose Mercury News. His career takes a startling turn when an upscale cocaine trafficker's girlfriend, Coral Baca, slips him a Grand Jury transcript which reveals a link between U.S. intelligence and Central American cocaine smuggling. Webb begins shadowing Alan Fenster, the defense lawyer for Los Angeles crack kingpin "Freeway" Ricky Ross. The journalist soon realizes that he has stumbled onto a story which leads to the shady origins of cheap, seemingly limitless cocaine on the nation's streets, all too apparent in South Central Los Angeles and which further alleges that Nicaraguan rebels working directly with the CIA were smuggling cocaine into the U.S., using the profits to arm Contra militias back home. Webb makes a risky run into Nicaragua to get crucial information from imprisoned drug baron Norwin Meneses. With the backing of his paper's editor Anna Simons, Webb's reportage

Rating

R

Release Year

2014

Duration

01:52

Genres

Drama, Crime, Thriller

Director

Michael Cuesta

Cast

Jeremy Renner, Ray Liotta, Oliver Platt