Taking Chance (2009) on Netflix
At Quantico, Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobl crunches casualty figures. After his recommendation is rejected, he volunteers to escort the remains of Marine Chance Phelps to Dubois, Wyoming.
- Netflix2.7/5
- IMDb7.4/1018,894 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes57%
Trailer
Plot summary
Casualties are mounting in Iraq in April 2004, and at Quantico Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobl studies the numbers while the choices are increasing troop strength or only replacing casualties. His superior rejects the recommendation he makes because he lacks recent combat experience, so he volunteers for escort duty. Private First Class Chance Phelps, a Marine killed near Baghdad, once lived in Strobl's hometown of Clifton, Colorado, and Strobl accompanies the remains, a task military protocol would normally assign to a non-commissioned officer. The route runs from the mortuary at Dover Air Force Base by hearse to Philadelphia, by plane to Minneapolis and Billings, and by car to Dubois, Wyoming, where the Phelps family waits. Strangers along the way pay their respects, and people hand Strobl kind words, small gifts and thanks to carry to the family.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Taking Chance (2009)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates wrote in his 2014 memoir Duty that the film had an "important impact" on his decision to allow the media access to the transfer of fallen service members at Dover Air Force Base in February 2009.
- Retired Marine Corps General John F. Kelly, who was next to Chance Phelps when he was killed and whose son, First Lieutenant Robert Kelly, died in action in Afghanistan, told the Washington press corps in 2017 to watch the film to grasp the solemnity of returning fallen service members.
- Michael Strobl later wrote an essay about the entire experience and the people he met; it was published on the blog Blackfive on April 23, 2004 and shared widely on the Internet.
