As the old adage goes: "there are 8 million stories in the naked city, and everybody has their story". Truly, films based on real stories and people are hot today since there are so many being produced--again, truth is stranger than fiction, so when "Thank You for Your Service" came along, we, as an audience, almost expect the film to be based on a true story as opposed to fiction.
A group of U.S. soldiers, including Sgt. Adam Schumann (Miles Teller), Billy Waller (Joe Cole), Solo (Beulah Koale), Emory (Scott Haze) and SFC James Doster (Brad Beyer) return home after serving in Iraq, but their attempts at reintegrating into civilian life are complicated by their traumatic memories of war and pressure from military brass to remain stoic as an example to others. However, with their repeated nightmares and lapses of routine memory ensuing, the wife of Schumann, Saskia (Haley Bennett), girlfriend of Solo, Alea (Keisha Castle-Hughes) and wife of Doster, Amanda (Amy Schumer) are at their wits ends of what to do with these guys. Even the VA is inept and overwhelmed to know, in detail, of what and how to help these soldiers.
Others to round out the cast are Patrick Brown as Staff Sergeant White, Omar J. Dorsey as Dante, Phil Armijo as Specialist Page, Dennis L.A. White as Jay, Han Soto as Army Doctor and Hunter Burke as Jake Schumann.
This was directed by a new director debuting his first film in the director's chair, Jason Hall. He also wrote this and others including "Spread" '09, "Paranoia" '13 and "American Sniper" '14, so being a writer has given him the ability to know a thing or two about directing--he obviously has worked with several directors before. He's a virtual natural to directing and will undoubtedly receive more work. His script was well thought out, especially with focusing on the personal aspects of these soldiers in how they are basically incapable of transitioning into life from their severe traumatic experiences in Iraq. Hall's willingness to incorporate the intense frustration from the wives/girlfriend was equally integral, and this writer conveyed this in spades. Seeing only the war experiences of these soldiers, although is important, isn't all there is to it, for when these guys come home, we as the audience, need to see how devastating it is for guys to even try to survive their families, society and the system--in order to receive benefits. Other than a couple of places of jumpiness in script, this storyline will keep you riveted and sober. We've seen these types of films before: "Jarhead" '05, "Stop-Loss" '08, "Hurt Locker" '08 and even the recent "Only the Brave", but this film had that different twist in how these soldiers were just trying to survive the best they knew how. The ensemble cast was chosen carefully and was powerful in their respective roles, especially Teller. He is a fine actor and has proven himself with other films, but he really shined in this.
If you're one who like war based films, especially based on a true story, this is the film for you. But even if you're not, this film speaks to all who watch it, in that it shows us a side of war that is all too often not brought up in conversation. And when a topic is not addressed, we, as humans, have a tendency to sweep it under the carpet.
Out of 4 Stars: 3.5 Rated: R 109mins.
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