I think that this is the case of a post-Sundance deal has been signed late in the game and has more to do with Amir Bar-Lev’s documentary film being a hotly pursued title, than it suffering from “devaluation”. The Weinsteins’ grabbed the best film in the U.S Dramatic field in Blue Valentine (if you ask IndieWIRE pollsters) and now they’ve grabbed U.S. theatrical, DVD and pay TV rights, as well as all rights in English language territories rights to a doc film that many were buzzing about in Park City. The Tillman story has been well-covered in the media (60 Minutes did a good piece on the friendly fire cover-up) so it may be an uphill battle to get people re-interested in the well-publicized cover-up job, however this doc film combines the probing with a more personal approach – from the POV of Tillman’s mother – who did her own groundwork to separate fact from fiction. We can expect a more personal journey.
The Tillman Story depicts gave up his professional football career to join the Army Rangers in 2002 and became an instant symbol of patriotic fervor and unflinching duty. But the truth about Pat Tillman is far more complex, and ultimately far more heroic, than the caricature created by the media. And when the government tried to turn his death into war propaganda, they took on the wrong family. From her home in the Santa Cruz mountains, Pat’s mother, Dannie Tillman, led the family’s crusade to reveal the truth beneath the mythology of their son’s life and death.
