Taking Chance begins simply but powerfully: with a boom that resonates throughout the theater. We enter a confusing and dark situation--much like the soldiers in combat, I imagine. And then...we go beyond the veil. Ross Katz and HBO takes us behind the scenes. After a soldier has fallen, after he is flown back to U.S. soil, after (it seems) his life is over, how does he touch so many people? With Katz's beauty, grace, and humility, we take the journey with Lt. Colonel Mike Strobl and PFC Chance Phelps. We encounter a "great cloud of witnesses" who honor this one life and help give it dignity and meaning. We are witness to the kindness of strangers--from a twenty-something teenage driver, to an airline ticket agent, to the airport baggage crew. We are witness to a tradition and a legacy that has been passed from soldier to soldier, from father to son. On each leg of the journey our minds and hearts are penetrated as Colonel Strobl allows himself to be opened up to this one life and to grieve the loss of it. After a person is gone, after they are placed in the ground, how does their life live on? Taking Chance is a poignant and powerful reminder of the beauty of human life, the courage of sacrifice, and the echo of eternal life.
Review of Taking Chance
