The Tillman Story 2010

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Mr. Bar-Lev's clearsighted, emotionally steady documentary examines the family members' deepening inquiry into the circumstances of Tillman's death and chronicles their mounting rage at the military's misappropriation of his story. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: By focusing on the human being, The Tillman Story balances cynical and inspirational aspects in equal measure. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The Tillman Story plays the sparkling colors of Pat Tillman's personality against the black and white of his state-sponsored myth. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Well-paced, methodical and seemingly thorough... Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: We may never know exactly who shot Pat Tillman on that ridge in Afghanistan or why, but we have a better idea of who he was. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: Most of the material in this movie has been seen, heard, or read before, but never with this level of useful illustration. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Watching the film, emotions range from sadness, of course, to frustration to outright anger. This, truly, is the best we can do? Throwing up roadblocks in front of the truth, not trusting the American people to understand the nature of war... Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Who was Pat Tillman? Himself. That's all you and the US Army need to know. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: [An] uncompromising documentary. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: It is enraging yet nuanced, an elusive combination for any documentary... Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: A scathing indictment of how Tillman's death, aided by complicitous media coverage, was cynically manipulated by the military as a propaganda windfall. Read more

Christopher Kelly, Dallas Morning News: It's a sobering look at how governments operate in wartime, putting a shiny spin on even the grimmest of tragedies. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Bar-Lev's documentary's greatest service isn't in recounting the Army's back-pedaling so much as underscoring how communal needs and family grief don't perfectly align. And that political usefulness may attempt to trump all other rites. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The Tillman Story unravels the deceptions -- and the deep dishonor -- that inflated life-size valor into fake superheroism. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Intensely dramatic, filled with elevated heroism, crass self-interest and blatant stupidity, it's a paradigmatic narrative of our tendentious, turbulent times. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The Tillman Story clearly lays out exactly what happened that caused Tillman to be blown to bits by fellow U.S.forces -- and the government's efforts to whitewash the story to avoid mounting criticism of the war. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: There's a lot of blame to go around, certainly, but in the end we're left with a lot of conjecture about what people "must have" known, and too-quick pans over official documents. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: The Tillman Story is ferocious filmmaking, but it wouldn't have half the force it does if the director didn't also get at the complicated man Pat Tillman was ... Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: It's the movie to put your money on to win the Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Provocative and colorful as the film is, it does the very thing it denounces -- massaging the facts to seize Tillman for a political agenda. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: Amir Bar-Lev's The Tillman Story is a gripping drama that reconstructs Tillman's life, death, and legacy. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: This documentary succeeds triumphantly on so many levels that its full impact doesn't hit you until you have time to register its aftershocks Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: In this funny, profane and profoundly sad film, Bar-Lev depicts Tillman and his similarly unconventional parents and brothers as Americans who hew to no ideological standard, and who actually think for themselves. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Could you imagine how difficult it must have been to pore over records containing the brutal facts of your son's death? Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: The Tillman Story stands as a truthful and emotional eulogy to a fallen solider and one that would never have been told without Dannie Tillman's determination. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The Tillman Story is a probing examination of truth, decency and the American way. It also explores deception and military propaganda and lays bare the ravages of grief. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: The Tillman Story mixes talking heads and archival footage into a detective story of escalatingly scandalous proportions. Read more

Melissa Anderson, Village Voice: [Exposes] a system of arrogance and duplicity that no WikiLeak could ever fully capture. Read more