The Tillman Story

Whatever one's feelings about the Bush administration, its handling of the death of Pat Tillman—the Arizona Cardinals superstar who gave up a lucrative NFL contract to enlist in the Army Rangers—turned into a particularly crass effort to sell the conflict in Afghanistan to the public. As Amir Bar-Lev's documentary makes clear, the military tried to cover up the facts regarding Tillman's death—announcing that he died heroically during an enemy attack—even as officials worked to exploit the tragedy for political gain, using a memorial service to promote support for the war. But Tillman's family would have none of it. Disgusted at the portrayal of Tillman as a super-hawk and suspicious of the official account, the family pressed for answers, and eventually the story began to unravel. The Army was forced to admit that Tillman had been killed by friendly fire, and an investigation laid the blame for the cover-up on a single general. Narrated by Josh Brolin, The Tillman Story, which combines interviews of relatives with historic clips and contemporary footage, argues that blunders such as this are routinely concealed and scapegoats found. While not revealing anything new—especially to readers of Jon Krakauer's account Where Men Win Glory—Bar-Lev skillfully presents the evidence in detail, while also conveying the courage of Tillman's remarkable family. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Amir Bar-Lev, and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a powerful documentary.] (F. Swietek)