Review of The Last Full Measure (2020) by Brent_Marchant — 22 Aug 2020

Now here's a movie that really got the shaft: Between being released in the typical cinematic wasteland that is January (instead of the genuinely more fitting year-end awards season window) and a barrage of smarmy negative reviews by ever-so-cynical critics who are probably too young to remember the horrors of Vietnam (if they were even born during that time), this moving, heartfelt, fact-based story about the efforts to earn a posthumous Medal of Honor designation for a brave Air Force medic killed while saving countless soldiers during one of the bloodiest battles of the war earns every bit of respect and emotion that it brings out of its viewers.

With an excellent ensemble cast featuring superb performances by William Hurt, Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, Christopher Plummer and Peter Fonda (in his final performance), this stirring tale tells a compelling, no-nonsense story about heroism, valor and sacrifice and the quest to see those qualities properly recognized (especially since the 30-year delay in doing so was derailed by bureaucratic incompetence and a concerted effort to cover up some dirty little military secrets).

Be forewarned that the film contains graphic images that may not be suitable for more sensitive viewers, but the picture never becomes gratuitous in its depictions of wartime events. To be sure, this offering, now available for home viewing, certainly deserved better than it got, both in terms of its distribution schedule and its critical reception.

And that's ironic, for this release ultimately suffered from the same shoddy treatment as its principal subject, a wrong that truly should be made right.