The Last Full Measure (2019)

Directed by: Todd Robinson | 116 minutes | war, drama | Actors: Sebastian Stan, Alison Sudol, Asher Miles Fallica, LisaGay Hamilton, Bradley Whitford, William Hurt, Linus Roache, Jeremy Irvine, Eoin O’Brien, Christopher Plummer, Diane Ladd, Samuel L. Jackson, Jordan Preston Carter, Amy Madigan

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded in America. Those who receive the jewel have distinguished themselves in an extremely heroic way, often in war situations. And since they love heroes in the United States, it’s an immense honor to receive the award. The vast majority of Medals of Honor went to members of the armed forces; the Air Force in particular is not doing well. Aviators are more likely to receive the Air Force Cross, also a nice award, but not the most prestigious. Filmmaker Todd Robinson – known as screenwriter of the disaster film ‘White Squall’ (1996) and as director of the neo-noir ‘Lonely Hearts’ (2006) – became fascinated twenty years ago by the story of an aviator, William H. Pitsenbarger, who risked his own life to save others during one of the bloodiest days of the Vietnam War, but was never awarded the Medal of Honor because there was not enough evidence for his exploits. In ‘The Last Full Measure’ (2019) he shows how Pitsenbarger was still awarded the highest honor almost 35 years after his death.

Scott Huffman (Sebastian Stan) is a young, ambitious US Department of Defense staffer who is given the seemingly thankless task of finding out why the request that Pitsenbarger never be awarded the Medal of Honor. His boss, Carlton Stanton (Bradley Whitford), urges Scott to do only the bare minimum; after all, elections are just around the corner (it’s 1998) and they’ll be paid off in the not too distant future. Let the new batch take up that case. But a meeting with Pitsenbarger’s former copilot on that particular April 11, 1966, former Air Force Sergeant Tom Tulley (William Hurt), makes Scott curious about what exactly happened. So he seeks out everyone who survived the bloody battle of Abiline, thanks in large part to Pitsenbarger. The war has left deep marks on all of them: the sullen Takoda (Samuel L. Jackson) no longer trusts anyone, the eccentric Jimmy Burr (Peter Fonda in one of his last roles) suffers from PTSD, Ray Mott (Ed Harris) suffers from a terrible feeling of guilt and Kepper (John Savage, in a nod to ‘The Deer Hunter’ (1978)) has stayed behind in Vietnam because he thinks he can only come to terms with himself there. The meeting with Pitsenbarger’s loving elderly parents Frank (the ever wonderful Christopher Plummer) and Alice (Diane Ladd) also makes a deep impression on Scott, and the more he learns about what happened that particular day, the harder it is for himself. to determine where his solidarity lies: with his employer or with the veterans?

Through flashbacks to the bloody battle at Abiline, the viewer also sees how Pitsenbarger (Jeremy Irvine) descends from the helicopter without hesitation to take care of and help the wounded. Such a spotless hero is almost too good to be true. The biggest shortcoming of ‘The Last Full Measure’ is the total lack of criticism; in 2020 you really no longer have to be an idealistic pacifist to recognize that one of the most pointless wars ever was fought in Vietnam; a struggle that knew only losers. Hollywood likes to take advantage of the Vietnam War, which has produced some of the greatest war movies of all time (the aforementioned ‘The Deer Hunter’, as well as ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979) and ‘Platoon’ (1986)). While those films each in their own confrontational way explain the madness of the war, in ‘The Last Full Measure’ it remains, despite those nicely shot flashbacks, all rather well-behaved. In addition, this film exudes that exaggerated sense of patriotism that Americans love so much, and here and there the emotions of the viewer are garishly fished for. The fact that the film still stands is due to the acting performances of the older guard in particular. It is an illustrious list of people over seventy that, in sometimes tiny contributions, pull the cart here. Plummer and Hurt in particular really know how to strike a chord. It is therefore thanks to them that Robinson manages to get that much desired emotion from his viewers at times.