Itwasimpossibletoimagine,Be

\ W9A Friday, February 20, 2009 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ENTERTAINMENT d CULTURE REVIEW:TELEVISION | By Dorothy Rabinowitz Kevin Bacon in HBO's 'Talcing Guard ofHonor Chance.' IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE to imagine, be 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps, the way that might be useful to otheres forehand, all the ways a film like killed in Iraq in 2004—must accom corts. The notes that the real-life Col. "Taking Chance" (Saturday, pany the body from the Dover Air Stroble ended up writing—on all that 8-9:30 p.m. EST, on HBO) could Force Base mortuary to the lance cor he had seen, had marveled at and been work its power. There are no con poral's burial place in Dubois, Wyo. moved by—became ajournal that even flicts, no warring sides, no mysteries of It's a long trip. Everywhere along tually caught the attention of a pro character—the usual stuffofdrama.The the way, he encounters Americans ofev ducer who brought it to HBO.The colo story's outcome is clear from the begin ery age, class and occupation who are nel, a veteran of 17years of military ser ning. Yet it's no less clear that "Taking transfixed once they understand they vice, was in a better position to reflect Chance" is not only high drama, but a are in the presence of a military escort onsuch a journey than most other mili kind that is. in the most literal way, officer taking a serviceman home. That tary escorts. As a senior officer he was breathtaking—watching paits of it can presence is enough. They don't need also something ofan oddity for thisjob. make breathing an effort, and those the sight of the flag-draped casket. All High-ranking officers didn't usuallyac parts comeateveryturn. It's no lessobvi that they feel they show this uniformed company the caskets of lance corpo ous that this film, about a Marine killed officer, the stand-in for their dead fel rals, as the film informs us. in combat, could have gone wrong in all low American, for his family, for the fu He had his reasons for volunteering sorts ofways and did so in none ofthem. neral service they can't get to—and the for escort duty. What is this all about? There is in this work, at once so crushing recipient of their grief and regard. his film wife wants to know. It's not and exhilarating, not a false note. He receives a seat upgrade to first about anything, the taciturn colonel in The credit for that belongs to Lt. Col. class, bestowed by an airline ticket forms her. It is, ofcourse, about some Michael Stroble, U.S. Marine Corps, on agent—she doesn't have to explain thing, as we will learn—the feelings of whose journal the film is based; to pro why—and a small silver crucifix some an officer serving stateside while oth ducer, writer and director Ross Katz; body else hands him. He's the object of ers are doing their duty in Iraq. But and, not least, to Kevin Bacon, whose countless searching looks from travel this is only a minor note. The film re portrayal of the devoted Col. Stroble is ers who do catch sight of the flag-cov mains, to the end, exemplary in its fo a masterwork—fiawless in its fierce ered coffin, at some transfer point, as cus on thejourneyhome ofthe unbear economy, eloquent in its testimony, the colonel salutes. They want to know ably young Marine, Chance Phelps, most of it wordless, to everything that what to do, the looks say. The cargo and its effect, on Col. Stroble, his es is going on. handlers know—they have seen these cort—a portrayal that will, we can ex bang narrative of facts, delivered in learn the rules—the main one being And that is a great deal. The pro caskets and escorts before—and they pect, earn a string of honors for Kevin mostly impenetrable regional accents, you show cowardice and you're dead. cess by which the remains of a fallen do it. Throughout these scenes, tremen Bacon, and they'll be well-deserved. makes.it hard. That's nothing new in prison wisdom, Marine are prepared and shippedis ex dous in their affect, stands the colonel, **'* Still, the spectacle ofthe newprison but the proofs offered here are excep quisitely detailed—details the film registering these responses in silence— "Hard Time"—a sixrpart series on ers, lined up to face the wrath ofthe of tionally convincing in their emphasis. spills out at its own quietly riveting and, as Mr. Bacon so successfully life inside Georgia's paramilitary prison ficer welcoming them—shown in epi We see, also, training of the guards, pace. All servicemen who have died makes us feel, in the depths of his soul. system (begins Monday, 9-10 p.m. EST, sode one—requires no deciphering. in detail that is, in its bleak way, grip are provided a uniformed escort home The film had its origins in the offi on the National Geographic Chan "You ain't at home with your family, ping. The words of one officer of the to their final resting places. The colo cial trip report all militai7 escorts are nel)—comes with one of those all-too- people.... You belong to me, you belong Georgia Diagnostic and Classification nel—a Desert Storm veteran who is im supposed to file after their assignment tempting titles. "Hard Time" is, yes, to the state of Georgia." Alltheir [exple Prison put'the rehabilitation philoso pelled, for reasons made known later has ended—observations on mundane hard to watch—and not because of any tive] freedom is gone, he informs them. phy succinctly: "Come here one time, in the film, to escort the remains of matters, usually, or tips learned along crueltiesseen in it, but because its slam- No news to these prisoners, who soon you don't want to come here no more.".

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