The Last Full Measure

War films are as old as silent films themselves, so much so that to list all of them would probably take about three reviews. We've seen war films that have been produced in extremely graphic approaches such as "Platoon" '86, "Saving Private Ryan" '98,  the Oscar contender "1917" and now there's "The Last Full Measure".

This tells the true story of Vietnam War hero William H. 'Pits' Pitsenbarger (Jeremy Irvine), a U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen (also known as PJ) medic who personally saved over sixty men. During a rescue mission on April 11, 1966, he was offered the chance to escape on the last helicopter out of the combat zone heavily under fire, but he stayed behind to save and defend the lives of his fellow soldiers of the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division, before making the ultimate sacrifice in the bloodiest battle of the war. 
Thirty-two years later, respected Pentagon staffer Scott Huffman (Sebastian Stan) on a career fast-track is tasked with investigating a Congressional Medal of Honor request for Pitsenbarger made by his best friend and PJ partner on the mission, Tulley (William Hurt) and his parents, Frank (Christopher Plummer) and Alice (Diane Ladd). Huffman seeks out the testimony of Army veterans who witnessed Pitsenbarger's extraordinary valor, including Takoda (Samuel L. Jackson), Jimmy Burr (Peter Fonda) and Ray Mott (Ed Harris). But as Huffman learns more about Pitsenbarger's courageous acts, he inadvertently uncovers a high-level conspiracy behind the decades-long denial of the medal, prompting him to put his own career on the line to seek justice for the fallen airman. 

Others to round out the cast are Bradley Whitford as Carl Stanton, Linus Roache as Whit Peters, John Savage as Kepper, Alison Sudol as Tara Huffman, Scott's wife, Amy Madigan as Donna Burr, Jimmy's wife and Michael Imperioli as Jay Ford.

This was intensely and grittily directed by Todd Robinson ("Angel Fire" '92, "The Legend of Billy the Kid" (TV movie documentary) '94, "Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick" (documentary) '95, "Amargosa" (documentary) 2000, "Stand and Be Counted"(TV movie documentary) 2000, "Lonely Hearts" '06, "Amy Cook: The Spaces in Between" (documentary) '09, "Phantom" '13) plus TV. It should be no surprise why this film would be directed so well considering this filmmaker's exhaustive documentary experience. He knows what it takes to get his actors to appear extremely realistic so as to give the appearance of a documentary without it being one. With the intricate editing and gritty photography, Robinson gave us a war film that is incredibly sobering. It was also equally well crafted by writer Robinson ("The Four Diamonds" (TV movie) '95, "White Squall" '96, "Clubland" '99, "Mermaid" (TV movie) 2000, "Astronauts" (TV movie) '02, "Night and Day" (TV movie) '10) plus TV and the aforementioned list. As I 've mentioned in other reviews, any time the director of a film also writes the film, the script is typically honed well since it is their project, and this is no exception. The way the story goes from the present (mid '90's) to 1966 in the midst of the war and back again was cohesive, tight, concise and fluid. So many films can get lost in the writing being choppy, meandering or 'foggy', but this storyline had none of that. Was this an Academy Award caliber film? Probably not, however, I truly feel that Robinson gave us, the audience, everything that would and could cause us to consider how fortunate we all are in that these soldiers (Pitsenbarger in this case) are willing to lay their lives on the line for us.

This should be shown in high school classes to not only to impress on the kids what happened at that time in our history, but what these guys went through for our freedom and keeping our democracy the way it is. It was written, directed, photographed and edited with amazing clarity, and watching this should keep us sober and humble.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                                             Rated: R                                                116mins.