Review - I'M PAT FUCKING TILLMAN

This documentary, which is now playing under the less inflammatory title THE TILLMAN STORY, debuted at Sundance as I'M PAT FUCKING TILLMAN and I will be refering to it as such here. I completely understand the motivations behind the title swap as being utterly harmless, but such a mollification of language is indicative of themes presented in the film, so I will make a point of it here. The film's original title stems from the alleged last moments in the life of the former football star and fallen Army Ranger. As he was being bombarded with friendly fire, he answered with the words: "I'm Pat Fucking Tillman! Why are you shooting at me!?". This title is more appropriate to the film's content, but the colorful language is too tough for some, as perhaps is the use of a dead hero's final, angry, desperate words. There's a clip in the film where Barbara Bush expresses the sentiment that seeing fallen soldiers' coffins isn't pleasant and therefore something that no one would want to see (or ought to). The simple, quiet title of the film, THE TILLMAN STORY, does not convey the ugliness, emotion and truth of Pat's untimely demise. It brushes over the original title, just as people like Bar Bush would gloss over the horror of war inherent in those returning caskets. To me, this film is and will remain I'M PAT FUCKING TILLMAN. It's not pretty, it's not PC, but neither is the content therein.

This documentary, directed by Amir Bar-Lev, might be the most infuriating film anyone will see this year. Despite his lack of wanting for such lofty praise, Pat Tillman was a hero and one hell of human being. The former Arizona Cardinal gave up millions of dollars playing in the NFL to enlist as a private in the United States Army Rangers. His reasons are entirely his own, but as far as the public knows, he did it because he couldn't bear an existence standing on the sidelines while the world fell apart. His death by friendly fire while serving his second tour of duty in the Middle East was covered up by the government and they instead used a fantastical account of the events as wartime propaganda. Pat Tillman deserved a hell of a lot more than that and so did his family.

The documentary excels in weaving the confusing and contradictory tale that was fed to the Tillmans after Pat's death. It doesn't attempt to give any solid conclusions because they still have not been reached. The film is frustrating to watch because it's apparent that there are some individuals in the military and the government who are privy to the details of Pat's death that have no intention of shedding light on the incident. The film doesn't try to blame the overly-aggressive soldiers for their actions (though it does touch on the vicious nature of young men at war), the truly reprehensible actions are of those mentioned above who have the answers, but cover them up to save their own asses and exploit Tillman, "the most famous enlisted man in the US Military".

The Tillman family's search for truth and accountability is more than admirable. It's practically unbelievable what lengths they had to go through to even start to understand the circumstances of their son's death. They are shown to be a unique family, just as Pat was a unique soldier. Their lives are not the chronicle that the US propaganda machine wrote for them. They would not allow their son to be used for something he wasn't and never wanted to be. Pat Tillman wasn't a comic-book character; he wasn't Captain America. He was an intelligent, driven, and truthful man who questioned the actions of his country even while he served it. The way he was used and portrayed post-mortem is shameful and an embarrassment. Bar-Lev's film does a great job of depicting the Tillman family's loving dynamic and their sad and frustrating struggle to find truth in a land where it is not a virtue.


A