'THE TILLMAN STORY': Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
Documentary film based on the events of pro-football player turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman who was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire and the U.S. government's plot to cover it up and use it as a propaganda recruitment tactic. The film was directed by Amir Bar-Lev (who also directed the acclaimed documentary 'MY KID COULD PAINT THAT') and written by Mark Monroe (who also wrote the popular documentary 'THE COVE'). It's narrated by actor Josh Brolin. The film is yet another amazingly well made and memorable documentary from 2010 (one of the best years ever for the genre).
The narrative of the film is mostly told from the perspective of the Tillman family, focusing on Pat's mother and father who put up an amazingly inspiring fight to uncover the truth of the details surrounding their son's death. It opens with the news coverage surrounding Pat's unexpected rejection of a $3.6 million Cardinals' football contract in order to enlist in the U.S. Army alongside his brother Kevin (who also gave up a career of professional baseball) in 2002. It quickly progresses to the initial reports of Pat's death in battle as the result of enemy fire in April of 2004. Weeks later the Tillman family and the public are told that Pat was in fact killed due to friendly fire by his own unit in a mistaken identity accident. Pat's mother and father continue to push for a full investigation and the release of all information regarding the shooting and as of this date have still been denied. We learn as the Tillmans dig deeper though that Pat was shot three times in the head at close range (which would most likely indicated it was intentional) and his body armor, uniform and journal were burned immediately following the shooting. Given the fact that the journal contained many of Pat's discontent views with the war in Iraq and observations of illegal activities there it lead many to speculate that the shooting was a planned assassination as well.
It has obviously never been proved if Pat Tillman's death was an accident or planned murder but as this movie shows it's still a gross injustice to the American people and an insult to all American soldiers that the U.S. government (going all the way to the top as the movie proves) covered the details of his death up and deliberately lied to us all about them. As many have pointed out our government tried to use Tillman as a 'poster child' for recruitment and spin his death into a heroic and inspirational tale when Pat Tillman made it well known that he did not want to be seen that way and did not support the war in Iraq. There's a lot of film time spent on Pat and his family's religious views or lack there of them and how people treated them because of this. We learn that Pat was very well read though and had researched many different religions and was interested in the subject.
The movie is extremely involving, interesting and emotional. It's well researched and extremely well executed. There were a few camera shot setups that I thought demeaned the otherwise outstanding quality of the film but they were minor and unimportant (which is even more so why the film could have done without them). I didn't know a lot about the details of the subject matter prior to seeing the film but have since became very interested and read up on them. That's the sign of a truly great documentary, one that wants you to learn more (although I do that before writing my reviews anyway but in this case I went a little beyond the norm and was eager to do so). The film is depressing, that's a given due to the subject matter, but it's also inspiring witnessing the heart and conviction of the Tillman families pursuit for justice. It's also of course inspiring learning more about Pat Tillman himself and what a truly inspirational soldier and American hero he really was. It's also an important film that all should see.
Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAZ2104LOU
Documentary film based on the events of pro-football player turned Army Ranger Pat Tillman who was killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire and the U.S. government's plot to cover it up and use it as a propaganda recruitment tactic. The film was directed by Amir Bar-Lev (who also directed the acclaimed documentary 'MY KID COULD PAINT THAT') and written by Mark Monroe (who also wrote the popular documentary 'THE COVE'). It's narrated by actor Josh Brolin. The film is yet another amazingly well made and memorable documentary from 2010 (one of the best years ever for the genre).
The narrative of the film is mostly told from the perspective of the Tillman family, focusing on Pat's mother and father who put up an amazingly inspiring fight to uncover the truth of the details surrounding their son's death. It opens with the news coverage surrounding Pat's unexpected rejection of a $3.6 million Cardinals' football contract in order to enlist in the U.S. Army alongside his brother Kevin (who also gave up a career of professional baseball) in 2002. It quickly progresses to the initial reports of Pat's death in battle as the result of enemy fire in April of 2004. Weeks later the Tillman family and the public are told that Pat was in fact killed due to friendly fire by his own unit in a mistaken identity accident. Pat's mother and father continue to push for a full investigation and the release of all information regarding the shooting and as of this date have still been denied. We learn as the Tillmans dig deeper though that Pat was shot three times in the head at close range (which would most likely indicated it was intentional) and his body armor, uniform and journal were burned immediately following the shooting. Given the fact that the journal contained many of Pat's discontent views with the war in Iraq and observations of illegal activities there it lead many to speculate that the shooting was a planned assassination as well.
It has obviously never been proved if Pat Tillman's death was an accident or planned murder but as this movie shows it's still a gross injustice to the American people and an insult to all American soldiers that the U.S. government (going all the way to the top as the movie proves) covered the details of his death up and deliberately lied to us all about them. As many have pointed out our government tried to use Tillman as a 'poster child' for recruitment and spin his death into a heroic and inspirational tale when Pat Tillman made it well known that he did not want to be seen that way and did not support the war in Iraq. There's a lot of film time spent on Pat and his family's religious views or lack there of them and how people treated them because of this. We learn that Pat was very well read though and had researched many different religions and was interested in the subject.
The movie is extremely involving, interesting and emotional. It's well researched and extremely well executed. There were a few camera shot setups that I thought demeaned the otherwise outstanding quality of the film but they were minor and unimportant (which is even more so why the film could have done without them). I didn't know a lot about the details of the subject matter prior to seeing the film but have since became very interested and read up on them. That's the sign of a truly great documentary, one that wants you to learn more (although I do that before writing my reviews anyway but in this case I went a little beyond the norm and was eager to do so). The film is depressing, that's a given due to the subject matter, but it's also inspiring witnessing the heart and conviction of the Tillman families pursuit for justice. It's also of course inspiring learning more about Pat Tillman himself and what a truly inspirational soldier and American hero he really was. It's also an important film that all should see.
Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIAZ2104LOU