The Last Full Measure movie review

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour, 56 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: A-

IN A NUTSHELL:

My husband actually memorized the Gettysburg Address to impress me when we were dating. Clearly, it worked. The title of this film comes from Abraham Lincoln’s inspiring speech at Gettysburg during the American Civil War in 1863. The movie is based on a true story about William H. Pitsenbarger and the events that unfolded during and after the Vietnam War. It’s not a typical war movie. It’s less about the action, and more about the people affected by war. It combines some of the action of Saving Private Ryan with the heart of Hacksaw Ridge. Another fantastic war movie currently in theaters is 1917. See them both!

Directed by Todd Robinson, the talented cast includes two Oscar Winners (Christopher Plummer and William Hurt), as well as five Oscar nominees (Ed Harris, Peter Fonda, Samuel L. Jackson, Amy Madigan, and Diane Ladd).

I’m so grateful for all of our brothers and sisters who bravely serve in the military for our country, including my own father and son.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Violence
Guns
Explosions and destruction
Close-ups of bloody and sometimes fatal injuries, spilled guts
Dead bodies
Profanity, crude comments, and several F-bombs
Two men stand at urinals in a men’s bathroom (you only see them from behind)
A man breaks a rabbit’s neck

THEMES:

Heroism
Truth
Bravery, courage
Shame, cowardice
Sacrifice
PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder)
Posthumous medals and why they’re important
Duty, commitment
Government bureaucracy and red tape
Love of a parent
“You can’t change the past.” – Scott Huffman (Sebastian Stan) “But you can change your perspective.” – Kepper (John Savage)
“Usually we’re judged by what we do. It’s what we don’t do that haunts us.” – Senator Holt (Dale Dye)

THINGS I LIKED:

Sebastian Stan does a great job in this role, even though his character is completely fabricated. He’ll look familiar, as he played Bucky Barnes in the MCU. Samuel L. Jackson and William Hurt also appeared in several MCU films. Speaking of Samuel L. Jackson, he usually plays a crusty character that just yells profanities, so I was so pleased that he provided more depth to his character in this role.
This is Peter Fonda’s last film. He recently died of lung cancer.
Beautiful musical score, especially at the end.
I liked the color palette that was using during the Vietnam scenes. It actually looked like they were taken in the 1960s.
I’ve been a big fan of Bradley Whitford ever since I first watched him in award-winning TV show The West Wing: Season 1. It was fun to see him again as a character in Washington, D.C.
I hadn’t see Allison Sudol before I saw the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. I thought she was so cute and perfect for that role. She plays Scott Huffman’s pregnant wife in this movie, but she looked like she was actually expecting in real life. She has the most perfect, feminine eyebrows and did you know she was a singer and songwriter too?
You’ll learn about the Medal of Honor process. What’s interesting is that out of the millions of solders who have served in the military, only 3,498 have received the Medal of Honor. Even more shocking is that only a small handful of those soldier recipients were in the Air Force.
There are some powerful scenes that will choke you up and pull tears out of your eyes.
The last few scenes are extremely touching. There is a moment when someone points out “This is the power of what one person can do.” Powerful.
I love that the families of the soldiers affected by war are also given consideration as heroes for all of their sacrifices too.
You get to see pictures of the real people the movie is about during the entire movie. At the very end during the rolling credits, you get to watch video interviews of some of the real soldiers from the story. I always love that.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

Predictable and somewhat safe.
Some critics are pointing out little details in the movie that completely miss the point of the film. For example, the soldiers are not wearing authentic or even correct uniforms because they’re not allowed to! The uniforms have to be altered, legally, because the actors are not authorized military personnel. That doesn’t detract from the story.
We never get to spend much time with the person who this movie is really about, William H. Pitsenbarger, played by Jeremy Irvine. We only see a few minutes of what he actually did to rescue soldiers. I would have liked to spend more time with him. We only get to see a few times where he bandaged people up and then tried to shoot the bad guys.
There are a lot of melodramatic speeches.
The bouncing back and forth between timelines can be a bit of a slog.
Some of the characters were written with over-the-top traits.
While you get to see some action during the opening credits, I would have liked the actual movie to also start with a big action scene.
Gary Sinise should have been in this movie! He does so much good for veterans with his Gary Sinise Foundation.
The movie isn’t that long, but it feels long. Some scenes really went on much longer than they needed to.

FUNNY LINES:

* “You know what you call a gun that ain’t loaded? A f’ckn stick.” – Jimmy Burr (Peter Fonda)

INTERESTING LINES:

“Justice delayed is justice denied.” – Tulley (William Hurt)
“Honesty builds trust. That’s the only real currency we have left in this world.” – Takoda (Samuel L. Jackson)
“I was a refuee in my own country and it hurt way more than those bullets.” – Takoda
“He honored all of us by serving and it’s no small thing.” – Alice Pitsenbarger (Diane Ladd)
“Dying isn’t harder than losing a child.” – Frank Pitsenbarger (Christopher Plummer)
“Surviving isn’t a crime.” – Scott Huffman “No, but it’s a life sentence.” – Takoda (Samuel L. Jackson)
“Fear is good. It’s a survival instinct. You’re supposed to be afraid.” – Tara Huffman (Alison Sudol)

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