Shoot the Messenger (2006) – Film Review

Director: Ngozi Onwurah
Cast: David Oyelowo, Medina Aijikawo, Nikki Amuka-Bird
Certificate: 15

By Sarah Morgan

Hands up who remembers the one-off British TV play?

Our schedules used to feature them all the time thanks to the likes of Play for Today, Armchair Thriller, Screen Two. But these days, they’re all but dead in the water, with producers and executives seemingly more interested in continuing series they can milk for all they’re worth.

Shoot the Messenger, however, is one of the final examples of the one-off. Originally broadcast on BBC Two in 2006, it’s a great example of the format; here’s hoping its release on Blu-ray will inspire some bright spark to commission more in a similar vein.

“False accusation”

It helps that the cast is led by David Oyelowo, who has gone on to achieve widespread acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic via acclaimed performances in A United Kingdom, Lincoln, The Butler and, most notably, as Martin Luther King Jr in Selma.

Here he portrays Joe, a computer programmer who, after hearing an impassioned speech about the failure of black pupils and the need for black male teachers to help them, enters the education system.

He’s dedicated to his work in an inner city secondary school, but loses his job after being wrongfully found guilty of assaulting a pupil. Joe’s life then spirals out of control until he’s taken in by members of a gospel church.

With a new job and a new girlfriend, it seems Joe is back on track, until his controversial views on the behaviour and mindset of other members of the black community see him shunned again – but a reunion with the teenager who made the false accusation against him offers him a new insight into life.

“Noteworthy performances”

Oyelowo almost single-handedly holds the entire project together. In less skilful hands it could have seemed rather preachy and perhaps a tad too worthy, but he makes us genuinely care for Joe and see things from his troubled point of view.

Director Ngozi Onwurah and screenwriter Sharon Foster have Joe break the fourth wall on numerous occasions, bringing us directly into his world. Whether we agree with what he’s saying or not is an entirely different matter.

There are other noteworthy performances from Nikki Amuka-Bird as Heather, Joe’s lover, and Charles Mnene as Jamal, his teen tormentor. Look out too for a young Daniel Kaluuya as Jamal’s friend Reece.