Taking Chance (DVD)

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Based on true events, "Taking Chance" tells the story of Lt. Col Michael Strobl (Kevin Bacon), a Gulf War Marine vet now assigned to analyst duty so he can be close to his family. Haunted by nightly casualty reports from Iraq, he volunteers to accompany the body of a young Marine killed in action home to Wyoming. On the journey, Strobl is confronted with guilt over his job and an overwhelming sense of purpose as he and his charge are embraced, respected and ultimately both put at peace over their roles in world events.

It´s hard to get a handle on this original HBO film. On the one hand, it seems to be anti-war based on the agonizing soul-searching Strobl goes through after he realizes he recommends sending young men like Chance Phelps to a war zone to almost inevitably die. There is a nonchalance to his job, as if the numbers only represent some hypothetical life instead of real people. Not once does he try to defend his decisions and, in fact, there is a moment he seems almost disgusted with himself as he spies a newspaper headline on an airplane.

But then it is very much pro-military in that no one utters a negative word about the officers or soldiers engaged in combat. In fact, to a man, they are respectful, courteous, solemn…almost as if the report put together in the real world which served as the source material for the movie was a "greatest hits" version of what really happened. It´s the one hard part of the story to swallow: that, in partisan times with an increasingly unpopular conflict, not a single person took the opportunity to make a political statement. If the story has been censored-either in its original form or for this film-then it is wholly disingenuous to the Marine Corps, Strobl and Phelps.

But I won´t spend time speculating on what may or may not have been. What "Taking Chance" does so incredibly well is explain each stage of the escort process by using neophyte Strobl as a proxy for the audience. Separate flags for both parents (they´re divorced), full honors in the casket´s presence and the body being transported feet first are all seemingly minor details yet turn out to be endlessly fascinating. Why? Because military escort duty isn´t something the public is generally educated about. Because of the pomp and circumstance. Because it´s a ritual to honor the fallen.

Since Phelps is never seen on the screen, Bacon has to react to something which simply isn´t there. Sure, he plays against other actors who react to him, but every discussion he has with himself ends up being unspoken since there´s no one for his ideas to bounce off of. The veteran actor does well in the role, making sure to allow his emotions to come through very subtle facial expressions; his dialogue is largely limited to telling the people he encounters what his job is. Only one scene in the second half of the film digs deeper into his personal emotional state of mind.

Director Katz knows exactly how to work the audience´s emotional response to the story so, in the end, it feels slightly manipulative and, even worse, like an After School Special. I don´t say either of those things to be derogatory; rather, an After School Special has a very definitive structure to the story with a singular goal in mind. Anyone who´s seen one of those movies knows the idea is to educate, to preach just a little bit about a particular subject. And that´s what "Taking Chance" ends up doing, either to its detriment or strength, depending on which side of the subject you´re on.

See, as already stated, the entire movie demonstrates regular people honoring Chance Phelps and the lengths they´ll go to in order to do so. One or two scenes would have been more than enough, but they keep coming and coming. Even when Strobl reaches Wyoming with the deceased, the attention turns from physical honors to verbal ones. As in, no on has a bad thing to say about Phelps. Period. It´s a theme that runs over into the special features: apparently, he was a perfect son, brother and Marine. Of course, that´s supposed to make the tragedy all the worse for everyone involved, though the unintended side effect is he turns into a god of sorts.

When a person dies, the natural reaction is to remember the positive while forgetting the negative. That´s human nature. But the negative still remains. In order to form a complete picture for the audience and for Strobl, shouldn´t the less savory aspects of Phelps´ life be embraced, too? In the grand scheme of things this would seem like a minor nitpick, yet the story drags because of all the adulation. You´re waiting for the entire 70-plus minute running time for some sort of drama to be introduced, either with the body, the family or for the crisis inside Strobl to be articulated. It never comes, leaving the movie with that After School Special-or History Channel-type feeling.