Taking Chance is a 2009 American historical drama television film directed by Ross Katz, from a screenplay by Michael Strobl and Katz, based on the journal of the same name by Strobl, who also serves as military consultant. Kevin Bacon's portrayal of Strobl in the film won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie, among other accolades. Taking Chance premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 16, 2009, and aired on HBO in the United States on February 21, 2009. The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. At the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards, it earned ten nominations, including Outstanding Made for Television Movie and Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for Bacon, and won one for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie. Plot The movie is based on the recollections of U.S. Marine Lt. Col Michael Strobl, a real person, who accompanied the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps, a Marine fatally wounded by gunfire near Baghdad during the Iraq War, from Dover Air Force Base to Dubois, Wyoming in April 2004. He attended both Phelps's funeral and his memorial service, and wrote an essay about the entire experience, the emotions he felt and the people he met. It was published in the blog Blackfive on 23 April 2004 and was circulated widely on the Internet. Cast Kevin Bacon as Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl Tom Aldredge as Charlie Fitts Nicholas Reese Art as Nate Strobl Blanche Baker as Chris Phelps Tom Bloom as Navy Chaplain Guy Boyd as Gary Hargrove James Castanien as Robert Orndoff Gordon Clapp as Tom Garrett Mike Colter as MGySgt Demetry GySgt Henry Coy as Marine Driver Joel de la Fuente as Ticketing Agent Liza Colón-Zayás as Ticketing Agent Ann Dowd as Gretchen Tate Ellington as A.V. Scott Noah Fleiss as Army Sergeant Julian Gamble as Jeff Mack Enver Gjokaj as Corporal Arenz ('Sergeant' in film's dialogue) Brendan Griffin as Major Thompson Sgt Adam Hayes as Dover Team Leader Danny Hoch as TSA Agent Ruby Jerins as Olivia Strobl Tom Kemp as Business Man John Bedford Lloyd as General Kruger John Magaro as Rich Brewer Matthew Morrison as Robert Rouse Maximilian Osinski as Sgt Neuman Wolé Parks