Taking Chance
Encyclopedia
Taking Chance is a 2009 historical drama film based upon the experiences of Marine Lt. Col. Michael Strobl
Michael Strobl
Michael R. Strobl is a retired United States Marine Corps officer.After serving in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, he took a desk job at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia...

 (Kevin Bacon), who escorts the body of a fallen Marine, PFC Chance Phelps
Chance Phelps
Chance Russell Phelps was a Private First Class in the United States Marine Corps who served with 2nd Platoon, Battery L, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment , 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, during Operation Iraqi Freedom.Phelps was killed in Iraq as the convoy he was...

 (posthumously promoted to LCpl), back to his hometown from the Iraq War.

The film was selected for showing at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...

 and premiered on HBO on February 21, 2009.

Cast

  • Kevin Bacon
    Kevin Bacon
    Kevin Norwood Bacon is an American film and theater actor whose notable roles include Animal House, Diner, Footloose, Flatliners, Wild Things, A Few Good Men, JFK, Apollo 13, Mystic River, The Woodsman, Trapped, Friday the 13th, Hollow Man, Tremors, Death Sentence, Frost/Nixon, Crazy, Stupid, Love....

     as Lieutenant Colonel
    Lieutenant Colonel (United States)
    In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, a lieutenant colonel is a field grade military officer rank just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the other uniformed services.The pay...

     Mike Strobl
    Michael Strobl
    Michael R. Strobl is a retired United States Marine Corps officer.After serving in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, he took a desk job at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia...

  • Tom Aldredge
    Tom Aldredge
    Thomas Ernest "Tom" Aldredge was an American television, film and stage actor.-Life and career:Aldredge was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Lucienne Juliet and W. J. Aldredge, a colonel in the United States Army Air Corps...

     as Charlie Fitts
  • Nicholas Reese Art as Nate Strobl
  • Blanche Baker
    Blanche Baker
    -Personal life:Born Blanche Garfein in New York City, she is the daughter of actress Carroll Baker and director Jack Garfein. She attended Wellesley College from 1974 until 1976.-Career:...

     as Chris Phelps
  • Tom Bloom
    Tom Bloom
    Tom Bloom, an American martial arts instructor, and former competitive karate fighter, was one of the students of Chuck Norris. He is a 9th degree black belt grand master of Tang Soo Do , a 6th degree black belt master of Taekwondo, and a 7th degree black belt master of Hapkido, A 7th Degree...

     as Navy Chaplain
  • Guy Boyd
    Guy Boyd (actor)
    Guy Boyd is an American character actor. He has starred in over fifty films from the late 1970s to the present. He is probably best known for his role as Detective Jim McLean in Brian De Palma's thriller Body Double...

     as Gary Hargrove
  • James Castanien as Robert Orndoff
  • Gordon Clapp
    Gordon Clapp
    Gordon Clapp is an American actor, best known for portraying the role of Det. Greg Medavoy for all 12 seasons on the television series NYPD Blue, winning an Emmy Award in 1998.-Early and personal life:...

     as Tom Garrett
  • Mike Colter
    Mike Colter
    Mike Colter is an American actor.He was born in Columbia, South Carolina and grew up in St. Matthews, South Carolina. He earned a bachelor's degree in theater from the University of South Carolina in 1999...

     as MGySgt
    Master Gunnery Sergeant
    Master Gunnery Sergeant is the ninth and highest enlisted rank in the United States Marine Corps...

     Demetry
  • GySgt Henry Coy as Marine Driver
  • Joel de la Fuente
    Joel de la Fuente
    Joel de la Fuente is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as 1st Lieutenant Paul Wang in Space: Above and Beyond, Peter Davies in 100 Centre Street, and recurring appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as TARU Tech Ruben Morales.-Early life:Born in New Hartford, New York, de...

     as Ticketing Agent
  • Liza Colón-Zayás
    Liza Colón-Zayas
    Liza Colón-Zayas is an American actress and playwright.She was born and raised in the The Bronx borough of New York City, and began her career starring in Off-Broadway productions...

     as Ticketing Agent
  • Ann Dowd
    Ann Dowd
    Ann Dowd is an American actress.She decided to become an actress while a premed student at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. She graduated in 1978 and went on to study at The Theatre School at DePaul University. In 1993 she won the Clarence Derwent Award for her performance...

     as Gretchen
  • Tate Ellington
    Tate Ellington
    Tate Ellington is an American actor from Mississippi. He is best known for playing the role of Aidan Hall, best friend of Tyler Hawkins in the 2010 film Remember Me. Ellington also had a starring role as Oliver Hunt in The Elephant King movie...

     as A.V. Scott
  • Noah Fleiss
    Noah Fleiss
    Noah Fleiss is an American film and television actor. He was born in White Plains, New York.Fleiss made his screen debut as a young runaway who drives cross-country with his brother in Josh and S.A.M. , perhaps his best-known film...

     as Army Sergeant
  • Julian Gamble as Jeff Mack
  • Enver Gjokaj
    Enver Gjokaj
    Enver Leif Gjokaj is an Albanian American film and television actor. He is best known for his co-starring role as Victor in Joss Whedon's science fiction television series Dollhouse.-Early life:...

     as Corporal Arenz
  • Brendan Griffin as Major Thompson
  • Sgt Adam Hayes as Dover Team Leader
  • Danny Hoch
    Danny Hoch
    Danny Hoch is an American writer, director and performance artist. He has acted in larger roles in independent and art house movies and had a few small roles in mainstream Hollywood films, with increasing exposure as in 2007's We Own the Night...

     as TSA Agent
  • Ruby Jerins
    Ruby Jerins
    Ruby Jerins is an American child actress best known for playing Grace Peyton in the hit comedy Nurse Jackie, and Caroline in the film Remember Me.-Life and career:...

     as Olivia Strobl
  • Tom Kemp
    Tom Kemp
    Tom Kemp was a prominent Marxist economic historian and political theorist. He was influential in socialist and Trotskyist parties in the UK, and published several influential books on Marxist theory and economic development, in particular Theories of Imperialism which made an important...

     as Business Man
  • John Bedford Lloyd as General Kruger
  • John Magaro
    John Magaro
    John Robert Magaro is an American film, television and stage actor. He will star alongside James Gandolfini in Twylight Zones —the upcoming feature film debut of David Chase, creator of The Sopranos.-Life and career:...

     as Rich Brewer
  • Matthew Morrison
    Matthew Morrison
    Matthew James "Matt" Morrison is an American actor, director, musician, and singer-songwriter. He is best known for starring in multiple Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, including his portrayal of Link Larkin in Hairspray on Broadway, and most notably for his Emmy and Golden Globe nominated...

     as Robert Rouse
  • Maximilian Osinski as Sgt Neuman
  • Wolé Parks
    Wolé Parks
    Wolé Parks is an American actor.Parks joined the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns on November 14, 2007 taking over the role of Dallas Griffin....

     as Major Schott
  • Del Pentecost as Minneapolis Cargo Handler
  • Dominic Colon as Minneapolis Cargo Handler
  • Christina Rouner as Tall Flight Attendant
  • Victor Slezak
    Victor Slezak
    Victor Slezak is an American stage, television and screen actor who has appeared in numerous films, including The Bridges of Madison County , Beyond Rangoon , The Devil's Own , The Siege ,The Cat's Meow , Timequest as John F...

     as Sgt Mulcahy
  • Felix Solis as Philly Cargo Worker
  • Sarah Thompson as Annie
  • Paige Turco
    Paige Turco
    Jean Paige Turco is an American actress. She is known for playing April O'Neil in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III.-Early life:...

     as Stacey Strobl
  • Sharon Washington as Mortuary Technician
  • Julie White
    Julie White
    Julie White is an American actress. She is known for her role in Grace Under Fire and for her role as Judy Witwicky in the Transformers film series.-Personal life:...

     as Colonel Karen Bell
  • Emily Wickersham as Kelley Phelps
  • William Wise as Larry Hertzog
  • Tom Wopat
    Tom Wopat
    Tom Wopat is an American actor and singer. He first achieved fame as Luke Duke in the long-running 1979 television series The Dukes of Hazzard, along with John Schneider. He also played Jeff, one of Cybill Shepherd's ex-husbands in the TV series Cybill.-Life and career:Wopat was born in Lodi,...

     as John Phelps

Critical reception

Taking Chance received generally favorable reviews, and currently holds a 76/100 rating on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

.. One review from The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun
The Baltimore Sun is the U.S. state of Maryland’s largest general circulation daily newspaper and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries....

, said that it "... is one of the most eloquent and socially conscious films the premium cable channel has ever presented," and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

, said "A small, almost perfectly realized gem of a movie, Taking Chance is also precisely the kind of movie that TV should be making." On the other end is Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...

, saying "Instead of well-drawn characters or real human drama, we are presented with a military procedural on burial traditions. The film desperately wants the viewer to shed tears for its fallen hero without giving a single dramatic reason to do so."

The film was the most-watched HBO original in five years, with over two million viewers on the opening night, and more than 5.5 million on re-airings. Critics often attribute this success to its apolitical nature, not directly depicting nor offering an opinion of the Iraq War.

The film received two significant awards: Bacon received a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

 for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television" with one other nomination, as well as an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...

 for "Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie" with nine other nominations.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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