The magisterial mood the movie cast on me was powerful, and I felt inclined throughout the watching to recommend it as ExtraOrdinary (EO). The homage paid to a fallen warrior. The uniform respect shown by every American the casket comes in contact with: the Marines who clean up the body and dress it impeccably (though they recommend that the funeral be closed-casket), the movers who transfer the casket from one vehicle or airplane to another, airline attendants (including a pilot who asks Strobl for the name of the fallen Marine and says he knows the name of every KIA he's ever flown), other passengers, other drivers on the long ride from Billings to the small town in Wyoming where Phelps will be buried (they all without exception turn on their lights as they pass or follow the hearse).
It was only after I'd finished watching and was mid-way through viewing a truly ExtraOrdinary film (Flammen and Citrone) that I realized I'd been had. Taking Chance, however we might wish that the noble world it portrays actually existed, is mostly fantasy. Chance Phelps died on April 9, 2004, in Iraq, during the first term of George W. Bush. Even "President" Bush, the main person who should have at least seemed to honor the Chance Phelpses the most, seemed to want to think about their sacrifice as little as possible. He may have regarded service people as too dumb or poorly placed in society to care about, since his "father above" seemed to have seen fit to place them where they didn't have the option, as Bush had, to avoid showing up even for all of their National Guard duties.
Phelps's commanding officer wrote to Phelps's parents, If there were more men in the world like Chance Phelps, we might not need a Marine Corps. And we might not "need" films like Taking Chance.
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