Taking Chance

Taking Chance
Official film poster
Genre	Historical drama
Written by	Michael Strobl Ross Katz
Directed by	Ross Katz
Starring	Kevin Bacon
Composer	Marcelo Zarvos
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producers	Brad Krevoy Cathy Wischner-Sola Ross Katz
Producer	Lori Keith Douglas
Cinematography	Alar Kivilo
Editors	Lee Percy Brian A. Kates
Running time	77 minutes
Production companies	Civil Dawn Pictures Motion Picture Corporation of America
Distributor	HBO Films
Release
Original network	HBO
Original release	January 16, 2009 (2009-01-16) (Sundance) February 21, 2009 (2009-02-21) (United States)
External links
Website

Taking Chance is a 2009 American historical drama television film directed by Ross Katz (in his directorial debut), from a screenplay by Michael Strobl and Katz, based on the journal of the same name by Strobl, who also serves as military consultant. Kevin Bacon's portrayal of Strobl in the film won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie, among other accolades.

Taking Chance premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 16, 2009, and aired on HBO in the United States on February 21, 2009. The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. At the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, it earned ten nominations, including Outstanding Made for Television Movie and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for Bacon, and won one for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie.

Plot[]

Plot summary[]

The movie is based on the recollections of U.S. Marine Lt. Col Michael Strobl, a real person, who accompanied the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps, a marine fatally wounded by gunfire near Baghdad during the Iraq War, from Dover Air Force Base to Dubois, Wyoming in April 2004. He attended both Phelps's funeral and his memorial service, and wrote an essay about the entire experience, the emotions he felt and the people he met. It was published in the blog Blackfive on 23 April, 2004 and was circulated widely on the Internet.^[1]

Extended plot summary[]

The film opens on a black screen, with white letters describing the date and place, as we hear radio chatter about a "suspicious vehicle" followed by the sound of an explosion and gunfire. We then cut to see two Marines driving, wearing dress blue uniforms, to an unmarked house in the middle of the night and knocking on the door. Finally, we cut to (played by Kevin Bacon) searching on his computer the casualty report for the Middle East. After a couple clips of Strobl on a run through the woods, service members' coffins being loaded into an airplane, and of Strobl driving, we find the colonel at work giving a presentation to several other Marines. The colonel makes his way home to be withwith his family for a short while; the camera then cuts to five Marines taking flag-draped coffins from an airplane in the rain. After a short clip of the colonel eating dinner with his family, we find him looking at the casualty report yet again but this time he writes down some information. The movie then cuts to him in an interview with a higher ranking Marine and he asks to escort a Marine, PFC Chance Phelps. He says it is because the private is from his hometown; we then see him discuss his choice with his wife. After he explains that he is doing this only because the private is from his hometown and has no other meaning, the film cuts to several people performing on a body, which is, apparently, Phelps's. After the morticians are shown, the film then cuts to the colonel leaving, telling his wife goodbye.

He arrives at Dover Port Mortuary where he gets his instructions, along with other Marines, on how to go about escorting a fallen Marine. After the instruction, all the service member escorts head outside and render honors as each of them departs. The colonel is informed that Phelps is not ready to be transported, due to the high number of casualties arriving at Dover. He checks into a hotel room and the next day does an inventory, with another Marine, of Phelps' personal items, including: a wooden cross on a string, a Saint Christopher necklace, a wristwatch and Phelps's dog tags. He is told that Phelps's private effects are not to leave his side under any circumstances. The colonel then verifies that the body in the van is in fact the private, then begins his drive to the airport where he has a talk with Rich Brewer (played by John Magaro) of the Dover Port Mortuary. They talk about the military and how the driver knew two men from his high school who enlisted, one of whom returned after sustaining severe injuries (who is recovering at Walter Reed), and the other who was killed. Strobl arrives at the airport, where he first renders honors to the private as he is offloaded to a cargo area, before saying a curbside goodbye to the driver (telling him, he's "a good man"). Strobl heads to the check-in counter, where the ticketing agent tells him that he has been upgraded to first class. As he goes through security, he tells a somewhat annoyed TSA agent that he cannot put Phelps' personal items into the x-ray scanner (because they are not allowed to leave his side at any time for any reason). He also says that he will not take off his Marine dress uniform jacket to go through the metal detector because it would "desecrate" the uniform. Eventually he is screened in private, with the TSA agent using a metal-detector wand, while the colonel holds on to the private's personal effects in his hand. He then renders honors to the private again as the coffin is loaded onto the airplane. On board, the man next to him in first class orders a Jack Daniels, and he orders a water, after which the man asks him "What, are you on duty?" He replies, "Yes, I am," and they take off. While in the air the flight attendant hands him a gold crucifix pin and tells him that she wants him to have it.

A few hours later, the plane touches down in Minneapolis. Strobl waits with the private's casket to change flights. After the casket is unloaded, Strobl requests to stay with the casket overnight in the airport's cargo area. Despite reservations from the foreman, his request is granted; one of the workers offers him a sleeping bag from his jeep. During this time, Strobl meets a U.S. Army Sergeant of the 1st Cavalry Division who he recognized from the Dover Port Mortuary. The sergeant tells Strobl that he is escorting his deceased brother home. The following morning, the private's casket is loaded onto a Northwest Airlines flight as the baggage handlers and even the flight captain pay their respects. On this flight, Strobl sits next to a young woman who cheerily offers him a magazine to read, and also texts someone that she is sitting next to a "HOT soldier," which Strobl happens to catch a glimpse of and corrects her that he is actually a Marine. Upon landing, the airline captain, a retired U.S. Air Force officer and former A-10 attack jet pilot in the first Persian Gulf War, makes an announcement, asking that the other passengers remain seated so that Strobl has a chance to deplane first and render honors for Phelps as his casket is unloaded. The woman sitting next to the colonel, who had no idea he was on an escort mission for a fallen Marine, is visibly touched, and apologizes for being insensitive with her earlier actions; Strobl instead warmly thanks her for her company.

After unloading, Strobl is greeted by the funeral director, and they load Phelps's casket for the final part of his journey. Along the way, an impromptu funeral procession forms along the highway, as people in passing cars see Strobl and realize what the hearse is carrying. After arriving in the town where Phelps's parents reside, the colonel is greeted by a younger Marine, who, along with a partner had driven up from Salt Lake City a few days earlier to inform Phelps's family of his death. The men proceed into the funeral home, where the younger Marine suggests that this would be a good time to place some personal items that Phelps's family had given him into the casket; Strobl agrees, and despite it being a ceremony, insists that he wants to make sure Phelps's uniform is correct and in place. As the men open the casket, both Marines have a strong, emotional reaction to seeing Phelps; Strobl remarks that even though the staff at Dover Port Mortuary knew it was going to be a closed casket ceremony, they still made every effort to make sure that Phelps was prepared and dressed perfectly.

Later that evening, a memorial event is held at the local VFW post, to which Strobl was invited earlier. The local veterans, along with Phelps's sergeant (who was with him when he was killed) and others, all welcome Strobl with sincere gratitude for "bringing Chance home". They reminisce about Chance's outgoing personality, and recount some war stories of his, including, later in the evening, the sergeant's story of what happened the day that Phelps was killed. Apparently in the firefight following the IED attack on their convoy, heard at the beginning of the film, Phelps was the gunner on a machine gun and was able to draw the focus of much of the enemy fire, allowing for his comrades to safely find cover for themselves. As the attendees of the memorial leave at the end of the evening, Strobl remarks to the Korean War veteran who first introduced himself at the bar that he was eligible for a tour of duty in Iraq himself, but instead "got used to the sight of his wife and kids" and put in an application for an office tour instead, which was granted. Even though Strobl is a recipient of the Marine Combat Action Ribbon from his service in the First Gulf War, he feels somewhat ashamed of his actions The Korean War veteran reminds him that there is no shame in loving his family, and that he is not any less of a Marine than Phelps or his sergeant or any of the other men serving in combat in Iraq, because now, he is a witness for Phelps, having served this escort mission, and he is now responsible in no small part for Phelps's legacy.

Prior to the funeral the next day, Strobl meets Phelps's family for the first time, and makes a point of mentioning that Phelps was treated with great care and dignity across his entire journey. He hands over Phelps's personal effects, as well as a letter from Phelps's platoon leader. Lastly, he gives them the crucifix that was given to him by the flight attendant, saying that he had realized it was not really given to him, only that he was carrying it for them. With the father's voiceover reading the platoon leader's letter in the background, we see Phelps receive a funeral with full military honors, and his parents, no longer a married couple, are each presented with a flag, "on behalf of the President, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and a grateful nation," honoring their son. As the attendees pay their respects, Strobl renders one final salute as the last person to leave the ceremony. The film ends as Strobl reminisces about his experience, saying that despite the fact he did not know Chance Phelps prior to his death, somehow, after escorting him home and laying him to rest, he now misses him. We then see Strobl returning home and embracing his wife and children, as the final shot of the film reveals that the mailbox of the unknown house depicted at the beginning of the film says "Phelps".

Family members of Chance Phelps attend the Virginia premiere in February 2009

Director Ross Katz speaking before the premiere

Kevin Bacon speaking before the premiere

Len Amato, president of HBO Films, speaking before the premiere

Cast[]

• Kevin Bacon as Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl
• Tom Aldredge as Charlie Fitts
• Nicholas Reese Art as Nate Strobl
• Blanche Baker as Chris Phelps
• Tom Bloom as Navy Chaplain
• Guy Boyd as Gary Hargrove
• James Castanien as Robert Orndoff
• Gordon Clapp as Tom Garrett
• Mike Colter as MGySgt Demetry
• GySgt Henry Coy as Marine Driver
• Joel de la Fuente as Ticketing Agent
• Liza Colón-Zayás as Ticketing Agent
• Ann Dowd as Gretchen
• Tate Ellington as A.V. Scott
• Noah Fleiss as Army Sergeant
• Julian Gamble as Jeff Mack
• Enver Gjokaj as Corporal Arenz ('Sergeant' in film's dialogue)
• Brendan Griffin as Major Thompson
• Sgt Adam Hayes as Dover Team Leader
• Danny Hoch as TSA Agent
• Ruby Jerins as Olivia Strobl
• Tom Kemp as Business Man
• John Bedford Lloyd as General Kruger
• John Magaro as Rich Brewer
• Matthew Morrison as Robert Rouse
• Maximilian Osinski as Sgt Neuman
• Wolé Parks as Major Schott
• Del Pentecost as Minneapolis Cargo Handler
• Dominic Colon as Minneapolis Cargo Handler
• George Rabidou as Marine First Sergeant delivering U.S. Flag to parent during funeral.
• Christina Rouner as Tall Flight Attendant
• Victor Slezak as Sgt Mulcahy
• Felix Solis as Philly Cargo Worker
• Sarah Thompson as Annie
• Paige Turco as Stacey Strobl
• Sharon Washington as Mortuary Technician
• Julie White as Colonel Karen Bell
• Emily Wickersham as Petty Officer Kelley Phelps
• William Wise as Larry Hertzog
• Tom Wopat as John Phelps
• Richard Reed as Rifle detail Staff Non Commissioned Officer

Critical reception[]

Taking Chance received generally favorable reviews, and currently holds a 76/100 rating on Metacritic.^[2] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave it a more mixed reception, with 50% of professional critics giving the film a positive review.^[3]

One review from The Baltimore Sun, said that it "... is one of the most eloquent and socially conscious films the premium cable channel has ever presented," and USA Today, said "A small, almost perfectly realized gem of a movie, Taking Chance is also precisely the kind of movie that TV should be making." On the other end is Slant Magazine, saying "Instead of well-drawn characters or real human drama, we are presented with a military procedural on burial traditions. The film desperately wants the viewer to shed tears for its fallen hero without giving a single dramatic reason to do so."

The film was the most-watched HBO original in five years, with over two million viewers on the opening night, and more than 5.5 million on re-airings. Critics often attribute this success to its apolitical nature, not directly depicting nor offering an opinion of the Iraq War.^[4]

Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wrote in his 2014 memoir Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War that the film had an "important impact" on his decision to allow the media access to the transfer of fallen service members at Dover Air Force Base in February 2009.^[5] During a White House press conference in 2017, former White House Chief of Staff and Retired Marine Corps General John F. Kelly, who was next to Chance when he was killed and is the father of First Lieutenant Robert Kelly who was killed in action in Afghanistan, recommended that the Washington press corps watch the film in order to understand the solemnity and dignity of the process of returning fallen military service members to their families.^[6]

Awards and nominations[]

References[]

External links[]

• Taking Chance at IMDb
• Official website for Taking Chance on HBO
• Arts of War on the Web review, February 20, 2009
• KMIR6 NBC story on PFC Chance Phelps on YouTube
• Taking PFC Phelps home, by LtCol Michael Strobl, USMC (Ret)
• You're his witness now Marine Corps Times