Post by Rob W. Case on Feb 9, 2018 23:57:54 GMT -6
The Story:
After completing another tour of duty in Iraq in 2007, a group of soldiers return to the U.S. about to readjust to civilian life. With civilian life, comes a new host of challenges waiting for them. Adam Schumann (Miles Teller), the film’s central character, has struggles with his dominating wife, Saskia (Haley Bennett). Adam’s friend Billy Waller (Joe Cole), anticipating his upcoming wedding day, comes home to learn that his fiancée left him and cleaned him out with no explanation, which impacts him in a profoundly fatal way. And then there is his other friend Tausolo Aieti (Beluah Koale), who is having problems with his memory, and suffers from PTSD, which enables fits of rage that threatens his relationship with his wife Alea (Keisha Castle Hughes).
Through all of the trials that befall our heroes, whether it is death, the limits of a completely overwhelmed bureaucracy designed to help them, suicide, depression (i.e. the desire to die), being rejected and resorting to desperate measures to make a living, these and many more issues threaten the livelihood and stability of our veterans in the service. And these are what makes this movie so potently dramatic.
My Take:
The thing that makes this movie interesting is the drama that our characters find themselves in. And because this is a movie inspired by actual events, coupled with the incredible way this film was written, directed, and performed, we find ourselves caring and empathizing with the characters, and genuinely interested in what befalls our heroes in the next challenge life throws at them. The "bad" thing about this movie is that overall, it is pretty depressing. In fact, that may be part of the reason why this movie lost money at the box office. And yet the thing to take from both the good and the bad is that it raises awareness of some of the situations and conditions many of our soldiers come home to after they have served our country.
All in all, out of 4 stars, I give “Thank you for Your Service” 2 and ½.
Thank you for Your Service is rated R and runs approximately 1 hour and 49 minutes.
To view a trailer for the movie, please click on the “play” button below.
Thank you for Your Service is available on blu-ray, DVD, and is available in Redbox kiosk machines everywhere.