Taking Chance

The subject matter intrigued me for a lot of reasons which you will learn in the course of this post. I was led to HBO’s new movie “Taking Chance” and you will be well-educated to lead yourself there as well. Indeed, this might be one of the best made-for-cable movies I’ve ever seen. It’s certainly one of the best new films I’ve seen anywhere in the past year.

”Taking Chance” is not a cryptic title. It literally tells the story of a career Marine who takes the simple job of escorting a killed-in-Iraq soldier home to his family. This is a true story and the young Marine is named Chance Phelps. No relation to that goofy looking dumbbell who swam around China last summer and now can’t keep his hands off a bong and/or a stripper. Nope, this is the Phelps that is the true hero around these parts. A 20-year-old kid from Wyoming who chose the military and knew the consequences of his choice. And accepted them.

Kevin Bacon plays the real-life veteran who’s accompanying Chance’s body from the military mortuary in Delaware all the way to the bowels of Wyoming. I’ve never seen Bacon better and most actors should be honored to be within six degrees or less of him. His portrayal is understated, yet amazingly powerful and heartfelt.

The film is surprisingly educational. I had no idea how completely structured the process of returning a dead soldier to his family is. The military handles this with the utmost in respect and dignity from the military undertaker to the soldiers assigned to hold him into the hearse for the journey home. At no point are the soldier’s remains compromised. Bacon’s Marine even opts to sleep alongside the box when they have to change planes overnight. Whenever Chance is moved, there are salutes. From Bacon’s character. From airline baggage guys on the tarmac. From fellow passengers who wait to disembark a plane so that the soldier’s body can be removed first. If you think this is a morbid topic, you haven’t yet seen how it is depicted in this movie.

”Taking Chance” is less than 90 minutes, but it seems utterly complete in its shortness. You learn about Chance Phelps. You see how he touched the people in his family and his hometown. And never once do you see the body. But, at the end of the film, you are shown plenty of photos of the real life Chance. And there’s a link to a website --- chancephelps.org --- which gives you an even more thorough look at this ordinary kid who is an extraordinary American hero.

I thought a lot about my own current connection to the Marines. My pseudo-nephew now in boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. He graduates from there in early April and I may even endure the latent stupidity of the south in order to attend. I think about his future and wonder about the parallels and the non-parallels. I think mostly with pride of his commitment to pursue a career in the Marines, when he had the grades to go to any college he wanted.

And, most importantly, I think about his potential over a long, long life.

One that Chance Phelps sadly did not get.

Dinner last night: Dried cappacollo sandwich.