HBO original films: Taking Chance 2/21/2009 8pm (east, pacific)

[bdowell]

Show: HBO original film: Taking Chance (http://www.hbo.com/films/takingchance/synposis/index.html)
Date (or entire series): 2/21/2009 (Saturday)
Recording Issue: HBO original film, official selection at Sundance film festival 2009
Identified Carriers: HBO
Channel(s): HBO, HBOW
Other Details: (see below)

HBO will be airing the HBO original film Taking Chance (http://www.hbo.com/films/takingchance/synposis/index.html) at 8pm east & pacific (other time zones will need to adjust accordingly) on Saturday, 2/21/2009 (tonite, as I type this).

When one falls, another brings him home. Kevin Bacon stars in Taking Chance, a new movie from HBO Films and an official selection of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Based on a true story, 'Taking Chance' premieres Saturday, February 21 at 8 pm.

If you get HBO, this should be well worth catching.

[davring]

The HR is set, thanks:)

[matt314159]

I was just coming here to post about this film and I see someone beat me to it! It's an incredible film. I watched the premiere last night with my mom, dad and grandfather, and by the time it ended there was not a dry eye in the room, despite the best efforts of us men to remain stoic.

There are several more airtimes throughout the month on HBO. If you missed, give it a watch. I was blown away by the powerful simplicity of this film that pays great tribute to our fallen. And it does it in a COMPLETELY non-political way. "Impossible!" you say. Yes, such a film exists, it's here, and it's a story that needs to be told.

Here's a News Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4Rl6qqPOnc) that was done about Chance Phelps and Lt Col Sobl's journey, a couple years before the film, that gives you kind of a good idea what the film will be about, and Here's (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-050123strobl,0,6934286.story?page=1) the original essay, the first-hand account that Strobl wrote about his experiences taking Chance home.

the LA Times (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/reviews/tv/la-et-taking-chance21-2009feb21,0,3768890.story) had this to say about the film:
Five years ago, Lt. Col. Michael Strobl of the Marine Corps asked that he be allowed to escort the body of 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps from the Air Force base in Dover, Del., to Dubois, Wyo., where the young man's parents lived.

Along the way, Strobl, a Desert Storm veteran, was so struck by the reaction of the people he encountered that he compiled a diary of the trip and posted it on several military sites. It wove its way through the Internet and into the hands of producer Ross Katz. He took it to HBO and, with Strobl, wrote the script, then directed the simply-told and at times almost unbearably affecting 90-minute film.

"Taking Chance" is, essentially, the epilogue to every war movie you've ever seen. The film opens with Phelps' death in Iraq and meticulously follows everything that happens next, from the Marine guard who must inform his parents to the care and handling of the body as it makes its way back from Iraq. ... From the washing of the body to the bar code identification to the fastidious repair of Phelps' uniform, every detail in the process is captured. But this is no docu-drama. Shot with an unapologetic reverence that is almost startling in these cynical times, "Taking Chance" is a tone poem, made all the more poignant by the black-out of these sorts of images during the Bush administration. (The ban prohibiting media photos of flag-draped coffins is currently under review.)

...It is a quiet and slow-moving movie that doesn't miss a single emotional pressure point -- Katz clearly believes in the power and necessity of catharsis.

[bdowell]

I posted my comments about the film over at TiVoCommunity.com in the Now Playing area there. Basically, I had the same effects as mentioned directly above... by the end I had problems with my eyes more than a few times.

HBO has done several excellent made for TV films related to military events in the past. I don't think I've seen them do anything that I just didn't care for, but I may not have caught all of what they've done. Regardless, Taking Chance was very, very, very good. I'd say somewhat sad, but more somber than sad. Very respectful, very poignant.


Just digging up exactly what I did say about the film after viewing (without having any real spoilers about what exactly was in the film):
I sat and watched it live, or almost live, as it premiered tonite on HBO. When they want to, HBO can definitely still do a great job with the original films, though given the subject matter this was one that they really couldn't afford to screw up on.

By the end my eyes had bothered me several times, and my throat had felt a few lumps. As my wife and I both said to each other, it's hard to remember how many times and how many people have been affected in the ways depicted in the film. As much as we try not to let the troops that serve be out of our minds, if we let ourselves dwell on such things it'd be awfully difficult not to be in a constant state of depression.

[bdowell]

Lest I forget, HBO should be re-airing this throughout the week. I believe Tuesday (if their pattern holds true...) it'll re-air, and probably a few more times throughout the week too.

In anycase, if you missed the first airing (and get HBO of course) take the time to catch it while it's airing. It is well worth the time. :up:

[matt314159]

HBO's List of Future Showings (http://www.hbo.com/apps/schedule/ScheduleServlet?CHANNEL=All+Channels&ACTION_SEARCH=SEARCH&KEY=TITLE&VALUE=taking+chance)

According to their site this shouldn't be hard to find a time to watch or at least set your DVR to over the course of the next month.

What haunts me about this film is when I think of the sorrow I felt for just this one young marine...and then multiply that times what, four or five thousand by now between afghanistan and iraq? I'm going to remain politically neutral on here since opinions vary, but this film really got to me. By focusing in exhaustive detail on Chance's journey, they pay homage to every fallen member of our military.

I think this really got to me partly because Chance was my age...well, about a year younger. When Chance gave his life for this country, back on Good Friday 2004, I was in my junior year of college. My biggest life worries were my accounting homework and trying to find time for a proper social life outside studying and classes. The war seemed a world away, i was so insulated from it all by my little campus bubble.

It is this kind of quality programming that keeps me shelling out for HBO every month even though it's on a lot of people's chopping blocks as they tighten the purse strings in these uncertain times. I haven't been so moved by something like this since Band of Brothers.

[bdowell]

It is this kind of quality programming that keeps me shelling out for HBO every month even though it's on a lot of people's chopping blocks as they tighten the purse strings in these uncertain times. I haven't been so moved by something like this since Band of Brothers.
Well said, and just the thought that I have about HBO. There are plenty of times that I've looked at my monthly expenditures and at HBO's offerings and I consider dropping HBO, at least for a short period, just to get to the next time period when they're showing something that I really want to see... a series, a made for HBO movie, etc.

Over the last 10 - 12 years I've had HBO for all but about 3 - 6 months at most. I don't subscribe for the box office movies they get, and most of the time never bother watching them at all. I do go out of my way to watch quality content like Taking Chance and have been lucky enough to catch John Adams, Band of Brothers, From the Earth to the Moon, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm and a bunch of other great stuff.

Given a choice between paying for Starbucks (which I normally do) or paying for HBO, I'll find the money for HBO first most of the time.

I will say I'm waiting impatiently for The Pacific which should be absolutely stunning as well.


On the rest of what you've written, I felt much the same way, which should just give credit all the more to the people that made Taking Chance.

[armophob]

Kevin Bacon has now redeemed himself for Hollowman. Well done.

[matt314159]

Well said, and just the thought that I have about HBO. There are plenty of times that I've looked at my monthly expenditures and at HBO's offerings and I consider dropping HBO, at least for a short period, just to get to the next time period when they're showing something that I really want to see... a series, a made for HBO movie, etc.

Over the last 10 - 12 years I've had HBO for all but about 3 - 6 months at most. I don't subscribe for the box office movies they get, and most of the time never bother watching them at all. I do go out of my way to watch quality content like Taking Chance and have been lucky enough to catch John Adams, Band of Brothers, From the Earth to the Moon, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm and a bunch of other great stuff.

Given a choice between paying for Starbucks (which I normally do) or paying for HBO, I'll find the money for HBO first most of the time.

I will say I'm waiting impatiently for The Pacific which should be absolutely stunning as well.


On the rest of what you've written, I felt much the same way, which should just give credit all the more to the people that made Taking Chance.
Six Feet Under
The Sopranos
The Wire
Oz (before it jumped the shark)
Curb your Enthusiasm
Big Love
Band of Brothers
just a few of the reasons I love HBO.

I'd like to catch Rome, John Adams, and From the Earth to the Moon some time when I get a chance.

I've replayed Taking Chance TWICE since it aired, and I continue to be moved.

[Dario33]

I was pleasantly surprised by this movie -- very well-done. :up:

[spartanstew]

Finally watched this today.

Wow. Very powerful film.

[hobie346]

Finally watched this today.

Wow. Very powerful film.

Very different story for those that had fallen during the Vietnam war.

[jeffshoaf]

'Tis available on NetFlix too.