Kill the Messenger review: Jeremy Renner in buzzing electric form

Director: Michael Cuesta; Screenwriter: Peter Landesman; Starring: Jeremy Renner, Robert Patrick, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Paz Vega, Michael Sheen, Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta, Rosemarie DeWitt; Running time: 112 mins; Certificate: 15

It only takes one small-town journalist to make a difference in Kill the Messenger, a true-life conspiracy thriller in the vein of All the President's Men, with The Hurt Locker and The Avengers' Jeremy Renner in buzzing electric form as the titular scribe. His defining moment is a 1996 series of articles uncovering the CIA's involvement in aiming to depose the Nicaraguan government, an effort funded by sales of crack cocaine – mainly in South Central, Los Angeles.

Apart from the dodgy foreign politics, issues of race and class are squarely in the frame as government spooks deem the lives of some of their own citizens expendable when weighed against the cost of arming the Nicaraguan Contra movement (who supply and distribute the coke in the US, unfettered). Gary Webb, crusading journo for the San Jose Mercury News, is determined to spark a public debate on the matter except that he only talks about having a social conscience once or twice before the issue becomes clouded with his own personal sacrifices.

Paz Vega is the femme fatale-ish gangster's moll who tips Gary off, which is significant because Gary is on probation at home after cheating on wife Sue. Rosemarie DeWitt keeps to the right side of righteous in that capacity and is, initially, supportive of Gary as he goes all-out – and south of the border – to follow leads. Inevitably, he attracts the wrong kind of attention, mostly from men in black suits, driving black sedans. But this all feels generically matter-of-fact rather than generating tension because director Michael Cuesta (TV's Homeland) doesn't widen the scope enough to drive home the impact of the CIA's transgressive policies and in turn, Gary's move to expose them.

There is a gearshift after Gary's first of three stories is published, when the film becomes less conspiracy thriller, more a study of a man being torn apart – hence, the title. Spin doctors come into play (as ever, unseen) to discredit him, or as Michael Sheen puts it in hushed, cautionary tones in the shadow of the Capitol building, Gary is "controversialised". Although the backstage machinery of government is a point of intrigue, the threat of dirty laundry being aired isn't edge-of-your-seat stuff. And, what's more troubling is the question mark that hangs over Gary's motives for writing the story in the first place, because he isn't shy of the limelight.

It only takes one small-town journalist to make a difference in Kill the Messenger, a true-life conspiracy thriller in the vein of All the President's Men, with The Hurt Locker's Jeremy Renner in buzzing electric form as the titular scribe

Renner's performance helps to bridge some of these gaps, channelling the very primal nature of an investigative journalist, sniffing here and there, and like a dog with a bone, refusing to let go. The supporting cast is also peppered with fine actors who bring the necessary air of menace (Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta) as well as the frightening reality of the CIA-sanctioned crack epidemic (Tim Blake Nelson and Barry Pepper as dissolute lawyers and The Wire's Michael Kenneth Williams as a street dealer).

Had Cuesta dug a bit deeper around these characters, he might have struck gold. As it is, Kill the Messenger is worth writing home about.