The Tillman Story

Pat Tillman was a defensive back with the Arizona Cardinals in 2002, but he decided to walk away from his multimillion-dollar contract to join the Army and fight in Afghanistan. Although he and his younger brother Kevin were first deployed to Iraq, they were later sent to Afghanistan, where Pat died. It was initially reported that he was killed by enemy combatants, but, a month later, it was stated that he had been killed by friendly fire during an enemy ambush.

Pat's family, particularly his mother, Mary (also known as "Dannie"), worked to make sense out of the 3,000 pages of redacted documents they were given by the military{{Cite news|url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2010/09/03/in_search_of_the_real_pat_tillman/|title=The Tillman Story|first=Ty|last=Burr|newspaper=Boston.com|date=September 3, 2010|via=The Boston Globe}} and came to the conclusion that Pat's death seems to have been the tragic result of a series of unfortunate events that did not involve enemy forces. After this, they pushed various entities of the government to investigate and admit that the initial descriptions of Pat's death were intentionally manufactured as propaganda. A paper trail, which includes a leaked top-secret document known as a P4 Memo that was sent by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, indicates that blame for the deception extends all the way to the Bush White House.{{Cite news | edition = electronic | last = Mondello | first = Bob | title = 'The Tillman Story': One Family's Quest For The Truth | work = NPR | date = 2010-09-07 | url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129235553 }}

Bar-Lev began work on the documentary in 2007 during the congressional hearings on the incident. He had to ask the Tillman family for their cooperation for seven months before they agreed to participate.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/conversation-amir-bar-lev-tells-the-tillman-story|title=Conversation: Director Amir Bar-Lev Tells 'The Tillman Story' in New Documentary|date=July 9, 2010|website=PBS NewsHour}}

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 93% approval rating based on 89 reviews, with an average score of 8.2/10; the site's "critics consensus" states: "Passionate, angry, and insightful, The Tillman Story offers a revealing portrait of its subject's inspiring life and untimely death."{{Cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_tillman_story |title=The Tillman Story (2010) |work=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=March 6, 2023}} On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 86/100 based on reviews from 28 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".{{cite web |title=The Tillman Story |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-tillman-story |website=Metacritic |access-date=2022-04-01}}

Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote: "This documentary succeeds triumphantly on so many levels that its full impact doesn't hit you until you have time to register its aftershocks [...] it will get under your skin."{{Cite magazine | edition = electronic | last = Travers| first = Peter| title = The Tillman Story | magazine = Rolling Stone | date = 2010-08-18 | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/the-tillman-story-20100818 }} Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, calling it "masterful" and "unsettling."{{Cite news | edition = electronic | last = Hornaday| first = Ann | title = 'The Tillman Story' tackles story of soldier lost to far more than friendly fire | newspaper = Washington Post | date = 2010-09-03 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090205090.html }} Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+ and called it "morally incisive."{{Cite magazine | edition = electronic | last = Gleiberman| first = Owen |author-link=Owen Gleiberman | title = The Tillman Story: A behind-the-curtain look at the propaganda machine | magazine = Entertainment Weekly | date = 2010-08-26 | url = http://www.ew.com/article/2010/08/26/tillman-story }}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Official website}}
• {{IMDb title|1568334}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20101115033546/http://www.corrientelatina.com/the-tillman-story-movie-review.html The Tillman Story (Review) on CorrienteLatina]
• [http://www.ioncinema.com/news/id/5491/interview-amir-bar-lev-the-tillman-story IONCINEMA.com interview with Amir Bar-Lev for The Tillman Story]
• {{Cite news | edition = electronic | last = Holden | first = Stephen | title = When heroism means finding truth | work = New York Times | date = 2010-08-19 | url = https://movies.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/movies/20tillman.html}}

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|title = Awards for The Tillman Story

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{{Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Documentary Film}}

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Category:2010 films

Category:American sports documentary films

Category:Documentary films about the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)

Category:Documentary films about war

Category:Documentary films about sportspeople

Category:2010 documentary films

Category:Films directed by Amir Bar-Lev

Category:Films about United States Army Rangers

Category:2010s English-language films

Category:2010s American films

Category:News & Documentary Emmy Award–winning programs

Category:English-language documentary films