Taking Chance (2009)

the audience applauded

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's 2004 as casualties in Iraq climb. Marine Lt. Col. Mike Strobl (Kevin Bacon) is a Desert Storm veteran and hasn't been back to Iraq since. He wonders if his administrative job is worthy as he lives comfortably in the States with his family. He decides to escort the body of 19 year old PFC Chance Phelps back home to Clifton, Colorado which is also his hometown.There is a power to this movie. It doesn't have much drama. There is a very small reveal but that's not its big strength. It's the powerful scenes of respect coming from the people that Strobl encounters. The act of showing returning casualties amounted to an anti-war statement for some people. This is able to show the compelling human respect without taking sides in the war.

I sat down to watch "Taking Chance", doubting whether this made for TV movie would be worth watching. Kevin Bacon as the lead was enough to stoke my curiosity. The man is an excellent actor, and he was flawless in this film. Sometimes when actors are easily recognizable, I find it distracts from the story. Not this time though. Bacon was completely believable as a Marine who was coming to terms with his own self-doubts while escorting PFC Phelps home. I was immediately drawn into the story...Some may wonder, exactly how entertaining can a movie about transporting a body be? The answer is that the film is riveting and emotionally draining. For me, the film quickly become about more than entertainment. It was not even 20 minutes into the film, and I was ready to bawl like a baby. The build up of emotion continued with every act of caring Lt. Col. Strobl experienced on his journey. By the end, my heart was completely broken... I will never forget Chance Phelps. I wish I had known him in life. He sounded like a great person. My condolences to his family, who must surely miss him despite the years that have passed.

First time seeing this, As a Navy Veteran of 10 + years I didn't get to finish the 20 year career that I had wanted to due to personal reasons. I have never felt quite right about it and always felt like I left the mission incomplete. After many years of financial struggles I finally found myself in a position a couple years ago to join the Disabled American Veterans of which I am now an Officer,The American Legion, and the VFW. I have made it now my personal mission to help Veterans in need to the best of my ability and with the help of these organizations as well. I even helped with getting our local DAV Chapter Honor Guard Unit started to pay respects to this country Veterans, (it also helped out the other organizations in the area that were lacking in membership to be able to form an Honor Guard). What I have seen at funerals over the past year has been very emotional for me and watching this film, literally just tore me apart knowing what these men go through, I am there for the final end result of their travels and having never served as an escort before I did not know all that they went through. The portrayal by Kevin Bacon and the rest of the cast during this movie deserve a sharp salute for a job well done

"Taking Chance" is the story of Lt. Colonel Kevin Bacon accompanying the body of a fallen Marine from the body's arrival in the USA from Iraq to its final resting place in Wyoming. In one sense, it is a well crafted film--somber and respectful and encouraging us all to contemplate the lives and deaths of heroic soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen.A deeper look, however, reveals it to be a shamelessly manipulative bit of propaganda that would not hesitate to stoop to any stereotype, cliché, or contrivance to beat you over the head with its militarist message.Ultimately, the message here is not of tragic, senseless loss, but of deification. "If you die wearing the uniform of a US Marine, in death you will become a demi-God." It is little different than the Japanese militarists telling their charges that they become kami (spirit-gods) at Yasukuni Shrine or of the elaborate militarist veneration of the dead of the Roman Legions (see: Titus Andronicus).And the worst part about it? It frames it in such a way, as all well-crafted propaganda does, that if you are somehow against the militarist message of this movie, that you are somehow against the best interests of the USA and of individual Americans--a blatant lie if there ever was one.