The Last Full Measure

"The Last Full Measure" recounts the events of April 11, 1966, when an American military operation in Vietnam culminated in an ambush that saw 134 U.S. servicemembers – most, if not all, of them Army "mud soldiers" – come under heavy fire. American casualties were reportedly 80% of those 134 soldiers.

Into the midst of the chaos dropped Air Force Pararescueman William Pitsenbarger. The film depicts Pitsenbarger's descent into the battle as the direct result of the men below having lost their medic. After braving enemy fire to tend to the wounded on the ground and get a number of wounded men hoisted to the helicopter above, Pisenbarger waved the helicopter off and elected to remain behind. When his body was found, he was clutching an M-16 rifle, evidently having gone into combat after seeing to the wounded.

The film shows the battle from numerous points of view, most of them belonging to the men Pitsenbarger treated. These sections are told in flashback, in 1999, as a jaded Beltway bureaucrat named Scott Huffman (Sebastian Stan of "I, Tonya," "Captain America: The Winter Soldier") gathers testimony in an effort – reluctant, at first – to push for a posthumous Medal of Honor for Pitsenbarger... a medal the pararescueman had first been recommended for three decades earlier. Why was that original recommendation "redirected" and downgraded? What secrets or reputations were being protected by sidelining one of the nation's highest honors for a man who exhibited such valor and courage?

As Huffman interviews survivors from the ambush – played by a roster of Hollywood A-Listers including Samuel L. Jackson, William Hurt, and the late Peter Fonda – their recollections start to come together to create a more coherent picture of the battle and Pitsenbarger's heroics. Focused, determined, compassionate, and unfazed by the bullets raining all around him, Pitsenbarger delivers the movie's most iconic line, answering a terrified soldier's query – "Why are you here?" – with, "Because you're here." The man is painted as a combination of saint and legend. Naturally, in the recollections of the survivors he helped he's acquire an almost supernatural glow, and Jeremy Irvine brings the kind of charisma and intensity to the role that it takes in order to make it work.

In the present day, as Huffman hears more stories about Pitsenbarger's courage, witnesses the ravages the war and its aftermath subjected the veterans to, and gets to know Pitsenbarger's parents Frank (Christopher Plummer) and Alice (Diane Ladd), something shifts in him. From political animal he transforms, gradually, into a human being, growing a spine and a soul in the process.

Director Todd Robinson wrote the script, and he does a masterful job at structuring the film. Where he falls short is in the many key scenes where deep, dramatic exchanges and revelations are meant to occur. The dialogue is stilted; in at least one place, the setting – the Vietnam Wall memorial – seems unlikely and unearned. But the cast (which also includes Amy Madigan of "Field of Dreams" and Linus Roache of "Priest" in a pair of memorable, if minor, roles) carry the film through these rough patches, and the battle sequences are hard-hitting.

Perhaps the most remarkable moment in the film breaks late, when attendees at a large gathering, being addressed about Pitsenbarger's deeds and valor, is asked to stand up and be recognized. First, Army survivors of the battle are invited to stand; then Air force members; then any and all veterans; then family, friends, descendants, and, finally, anyone who has heard and appreciated the story of Pitsenbarger's deeds. It's a stirring moment, as the circle grows to include more and more people – a moment that's explained in the extra features as intending to illustrate how the actions of a single exceptional individual can touch the lives of many, many people over time. In this age of shrinking circles of inclusion – when fewer, rather than more, people seem to matter to the powers that be – it's a reminder that every one of us can, or at least could, matter.

The physical media and streaming release includes a half-dozen special features, including a mini-documentary (about seven and a half minutes) looking at the filming of that climactic scene described above; a video documentation of a screening of the film at the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio, where veterans and Pitsenbarger family members were special guests; a look at the music of the film with composer Philip Klein and director Todd Robinson; a "tribute gallery" of photos from the real Pitsenbarger's life and military career; and, the crown jewel of the extras, the eight-minute featurette "That Others May Live," which takes a closer look at Operation Abilene and the impact that Pitsenbarger's actions had on vets who are still alive today thanks to his courage and tenacity.

If the less than stellar leadership we're saddled with today leaves you feeling glum about the human condition, put this film on, together with that other recent "inspired by true events" story of exceptional wartime valor, "Hacksaw Ridge," and remember what true moral fiber looks like.

The Last Full Measure"
Blu-ray
$24.99
https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/the-last-full-measure