Review: THE TILLMAN STORY

THE TILLMAN STORY is an agenda-driven anti-war documentary about the corruption of America’s political and military establishment. It’s propaganda disguised as expose, detailing an alleged cover-up of the death by friendly fire of Pat Tillman, NFL star turned Army Ranger. Tillman, linebacker for the Phoenix Cardinals, enlisted in the army soon after the September 11 attacks and died in Afghanistan April 22, 2004. The military initially reported that he’d been the victim of an ambush by Taliban fighters, then five weeks later had to admit that he was in fact accidentally killed by a member of his own unit (‘fratricide’ is the actual military term). Tillman personified humility, bravery, and other admirable human characteristics. He gave up a multi-million dollar football contract to join the Army and serve his country. He avoided the spotlight and kept his reasons for enlisting to himself. But he was a celebrity and he was killed and his death quickly made him not only a legend but a propaganda tool for both the military and for anti-war activists such as the makers of this new film.

Amir Bar-Lev, director of THE TILLMAN STORY, worked closely with the Tillman family, especially Pat’s mother Mary who believed from the beginning that there was something suspicious about the military’s official explanation of her son’s death. Mary claims that the army was ordered to lie to her by a vast conspiracy of civilian government employees leading all the way up to the White House. She claims it was only after she had dug up the real facts behind her son’s death that the army reversed itself and fessed up the truth. Bar-Lev spends much of the film attempting to show how Tillman’s death was hijacked by politicians and support the Tillman family’s claims that the government pushed the idea of a heroic death as a means to justify U.S. foreign policy. Mary Tillman’s grief is apparent but the fact is that the Army probably knew right away that Tillman was killed by someone in his own convoy and, because of the publicity his death generated, released a dubious statement about his death that was short on detail while it began its investigation. The other soldiers at the scene of the incident, including Tillman’s brother Kevin, were ordered not to speak about it until the investigation was over. While it’s true that the army shouldn’t have said anything until their investigation was complete, they did fess up in due time and the whole ‘scandal’ seems more like misinformation derived from the ‘fog of war’ than a sinister cover-up. Neither the nobility of Pat Tillman’s sacrifice nor his family’s bereavement can change the fact that it wasn’t the military that made the Tillman tragedy such a big story; it was the media. The political slant of THE TILLMAN STORY is also clear by the fact that they never question who specifically it was who killed Tillman. The answer to that question should be readily available by the Army’s investigation but this is a movie more about making the Bush administration look bad and such a simple revelation would get in their way of laying out their grand conspiracy and attempting to fry bigger fish. There’s also a lengthy detour detailing the rescue of Jessica Lynch, another story blown out of proportion by both the media and the military, which is an unnecessary tangent.

THE TILLMAN STORY is well-made, dramatic, and nicely narrated by Josh Brolin, but the best parts are those where we get to know Pat Tillman the man; home movies of him as a child playing with his brothers and footage of his wedding and football accomplishments. Pat Tillman’s story is both inspiring and sad but in the end he volunteered to go to war and knew the dangers involved. THE TILLMAN STORY is a compelling film, but it’s little more than propaganda against the cause he gave his life for.

2 1/2 of 5 Stars