The Last Full Measure

Directed by Todd Robinson, The Last Full Measure follows a Pentagon staffer (Sebastian Stan’s Scott Huffman) as he’s tasked with proving that a deceased Vietnam War veteran deserves to receive the nation’s highest military honor. It’s compelling subject matter that is, for the most part, employed to often astonishingly sluggish and tedious effect by Robinson, as the filmmaker, armed with his own screenplay, delivers a static (and eventually interminable) drama that contains little in the way of forward momentum or dramatic tension – with the arms-length atmosphere preventing the viewer from working up an ounce of interest in or sympathy for the protagonist’s ongoing exploits. The movie’s massive failure is especially disappointing given that it boasts appearances by an impressive roster of top-notch performers, and although folks like William Hurt, Ed Harris, Peter Fonda, and Samuel L. Jackson are as superb here as one might’ve anticipated, with Jackson’s all-too-short interlude standing as an obvious (and rare) highlight, The Last Full Measure squanders their first-class efforts to a degree that grows more and more frustrating (and infuriating) as time slowly progresses. By the time the admittedly affecting finale, which arrives far too late to make any real impact, rolls around, The Last Full Measure has cemented its place as a distressingly worthless endeavor that does, for the most part, feel like it should be much, much better.

* out of ****

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