Six degrees from Iraq?
Photo: Paul Morigi
Although Kevin Bacon’s newest film, HBO’s “Taking Chance,” concerns the Iraq War, he says it shouldn’t be viewed as an anti-war film.
Bacon plays Marine Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, who as a voluntary military escort accompanied the body of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps back to his hometown of Dubois, Wyo. Phelps was killed in Iraq in 2004.
“People assume that it’s going to be a political statement because up to this point, that’s what we’ve had” with other movies and TV shows about the conflict, Bacon said. “This film is just not that. It didn’t have to be the Iraq War. It could have been Vietnam.”
Bacon and Strobl attended a screening of the film at the Motion Picture Association of America on Monday night.
Bacon said he was intrigued by the project not so much because it’s about the military, but because it’s a true story. “We have a responsibility to Phelps and Strobl to tell this story with as much integrity as possible,” he said. “It kind of raises the stakes of going to work every day.”
Also on hand for the screening: Army Chief of Staff George Casey, Gen. Peter Schoomaker (Ret.), Air Force Chief of Staff Norton Schwartz and James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
After he was done mingling, Bacon headed to Zaytinya for dinner. He stayed at the Four Seasons.
