THE Kevin Bacon movie, “Tak ing Chance,” struck a re sounding chord with HBO viewers.

“Chance,” in which Bacon stars as a military escort officer accompanying the casket of a killed-in-combat Marine to his hometown, averaged 2 million viewers on HBO last Saturday night.

That was the cable network’s most-watched movie since “Something the Lord Made,” a 2004 drama about heart surgery pioneers Dr. Alfred Blalock and his lab tech, Vivien Thomas.

“Taking Chance” was singled out by critics for detailing the careful preparation – and patriotic ritual – that goes into preparing veterans’ caskets for their journeys home.