The Last Full Measure

There’s hardly a moment in this film that doesn’t feature at least one great actor in top form.

These ideas are presented by a cast of well-seasoned actors who help the film survive its occasionally clunky dialogue. In fact, one of the film’s bigger pleasures is listening to these thespians plow through their numerous monologues. Their performances are the film's saving grace.

Here’s a true story about a young soldier’s exceptional bravery and sacrifice made into a pretty average war movie, insubstantial and TV-ish despite the appearance of some decorated Hollywood veterans.

Hagiography doesn’t magically becomes less tedious simply because its subject made the ultimate sacrifice for his country, however, and this stolid, mournful drama does little more than solicit the viewer’s respect and admiration for Pitsenbarger, whose entire life gets reduced to a single act of uncomplicated nobility.

Writer-director Todd Robinson is the victim of his own noble intentions, turning each and every moment into an ice bucket of sentiment.

The film, which was written and directed by Todd Robinson, begins with those dreaded words “Based on a True Story,” meaning in this instance concocted from certain established facts, lots of unconvincing fiction and large dollops of sentiment into a disjointed tale that means to inspire us, yet manages against steep odds to be dull and emotionally remote.

The film largely evades any perspectives that might question the institutions that put our soldiers in harm’s way.

The critics gave it a 52 rating. What a joke. I have seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Irishman and 1917. They are all good. This film is better ! Based on a true story, the movie is well directed and the acting is excellent. William Hurt , Christopher Plummer , Samuel Jackson , Peter Fonda and Ed Harris have all starred in films , some 20-25 years ago and they all turned in wonderful performances in their roles . Its sad at times and at other times , poignant . Don't spend on reviews by movie critics. Read the audience reviews. This is a must see movie

Meh. It was, at times, better than I expected, helped in no small part by the veteran cast. While the movie does explore some big themes about love, loss, guilt, duty, etc., it does so in a very ham-fisted manner. That's not say the sacrifice was in vain, but the movie gives no concrete motivation to the protagonist for his change of heart or for his superior's actions (including the about-face by the senator's attaché or whoever that careerist political "villain" was). Very superficial all around and doesn't get into the grittier side of things or explore Pits beyond this single act of valor. Interesting, yes. Riveting, no. Realistic? At times yes, but doesn't reflect the messiness of the real world, especially at the end. The attempt of the film to make something out of the "cover up" is ... not well done, and the actual chain of events is pretty humdrum in the end. The battle scenes are confusing, as they jump back and forth in time, it's not clear where the perimeter is, and some of the action takes place either *very* early in the patrol or the previous day? It's very unclear. The movie could've trimmed some fat and instead used that time to focus on character motivations and cleanly retelling the battle in a way that's still obviously chaotic, but more easily digestible for viewers. I've watched my share of war films, and while I appreciate the human angle taken (examining the events 30 years after they transpired is an interesting angle), I think the film could've done a lot more with its nearly-2-hour runtime.

Its heart is in the right place but the film is too long and too boring. Don't remember a lot about this.

Despite the overt melodrama, the messy plot, and the phony hearts and minds **** thia movies worst crime is crippling boredom. Instill don't know what the big cover-up/secret is. The Senator being the CO and ordering the men into a meat grinder? That story has been done to death and better. This piece of crap just made me angry.

Lining up the most repelling cast within the first 5 minutes is a commendable feat. If you have a beating heart and a functioning brain, you won’t make it any further. I know I didn’t. This reminds me of “American Hustle”… My missus picked that when we went to the cinema, I had no intention of Seeing it. In that case I came from “I ain’t watching this!” to it being one of my all-time favourites. This here is the polar opposite. The movie convinces you within 10 minutes, that nobody involved in making it have a single sh—t. GOD…!