Thank You for Your Service (2017)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

I was sold on this movie until the end!The message is clearly given ..... the war in Iraq is corporate driven. Thus the 'officer class' military characters all have the soul of a corporate executive - heartless automatons.Then that sugar coated ending. The message of this pointless war is flushed down the toilet ... wave that flag.I watched this movie for Miles Teller .... his last really good film was The Spectacular Now. Miles - wake-up!

In the bonus segment of the DVD of "Thank You for Your Service," writer-director Jason Hall described the movie as a "Coming Home film," referring to the outstanding Vietnam War film about marginalized veterans. In a similar vein, actor Miles Teller, who plays the lead role of Sergeant Adam Schumann, indicated that the objective was to "show a side of war that has not been shown."The film was most successful in exposing how the veterans' return from battle in Iraq was the exact opposite of a homecoming. When Schumann and his buddy Tausolo Aieti show up at the Veterans Affairs building outside of Fort Riley, they are desperate for medical assistance and psychological counseling. But they are waiting in a lobby with hundreds of other vets. Ultimately, they are told that they are "hundreds of thousands" of suffering veterans ahead of them who are also seeking help.The film may become overly melodramatic with the repetitive story of the ghost of Doster, the man who died after taking Schumann's place on a patrol after a devastating attack in Building 20 in Rustamiyah, Iraq in 2007. Schumann, Aieti, and Michael Emory, who required brain surgery after Schumann dropped him while carrying the wounded soldier out of a building, are never the same after this devastating sequence of events. One of the strongest subplots in the film is the depiction of the family lives of the vets and how the wives, Saskia Schumann, Alea Aieti, and the widow of James Doster, suffer along with the men. A subtle critique of the top brass at the military is leveled at one of the officers, who fails to recognize the toll taken on the soldiers on the ground. Schumann and Aieti agree that the officer "fought his war at a computer.The most ironic line in the film is Aieti's assertion on multiple occasions that "army saved my life." At first glance, the army provided an identity to Aieti and a comaraderie with his buddies. But what is it all worth, if the army also takes away one's life, even if the veteran seemingly makes it home in one piece?

This movie can be looked at in two ways. If you don't believe in PTSD or that soldiers come back with real emotional scars from their service, this will largely come across as whining and griping and might be viewed as political propaganda for one side or the other. The other way to look at it is as a depressing statement about the level of care veterans receive today and how ill-equipped they are to deal with the problems they bring back home. I fall in the second camp. This movie is definitely somber, there is very little levity but that is the goal of Thank You For Your Service. They go into how damaged your psyche can get and that even when you're back, that doesn't mean your problems stop, they only shift in a different direction. The movie even presents the statistic that 22 veterans commit suicide a day. This is sobering and not pleasant to think about. But that doesn't mean the movie isn't entertaining or worth watching.So, this movie is about American soldiers dealing with PTSD, but it also brings up some issues that you might not think about immediately. After they're discharged, how easy it for them to find jobs? If they suffer a physical or mental injury, how quickly do they get access to care? Is it sufficient to their respective injury? Are there enough veteran affairs offices to deal with all these veterans? What preventative measures are there to discourage things like suicide or self-harm? How do you deal with a condition like survivor's guilt? These are all things that are addressed in the movie and I like the fact that they presented them even though we might not like the answers to those questions. This is a good type of movie to give young and up-and-coming actors/actresses a chance to shine. Miles Teller needed to rebound off the disastrous last attempt at the Fantastic Four and this was a nice comeback performance. He has a lot of humility in this, this isn't a flashy role, but it requires a lot of emotion and he delivers. Haley Bennett is also solid in a thankless role as Saskia. She doesn't get a lot of screen time, but she always does good work regardless. I hadn't seen Beulah Koale in anything else but he was excellent in this. This role is very raw and full of pain, he gets this across and then some. He also works well with Teller and you buy their friendship. I also liked Joe Cole who I recognized from Peaky Blinders. He's less of a one-note character here and he does well with what he was given. Amy Schumer was weird casting but she's fine. Omar J. Dorsey is good in his small role too.Thank You For Your Service is not a perfect movie however. The movie does drag at points, the trailer makes it look like there's going to be lots of flashbacks to action packed moments in their service and there isn't much. The only other thing is that this is a very small and contained movie. It doesn't reach for anything beyond its grasp and seems fine with just being a quieter story. Some might not be pleased about its unwillingness to point a finger at one group or another, but I thought that was a good quality.I urge people to give this movie a chance no matter what you think about current political climate surrounding the war in the Middle East. The movie doesn't play favourites and it doesn't require you to be on one side of the aisle or the other. Its about the soldiers and what they have to deal with when they get on the airplane to come back. TYFYS develops some complex characters that help shine a light on this important issue. The performances are good across the board, the unflinching spotlight on the issue is deserved and they get you to care about whether these characters can carry this burden and still try to lead normal lives. Despite how the movies delves into a dark subject, I still thought it accomplished what it wanted to, and I'd recommend it to anyone who can appreciate some good acting and some relevant commentary on this issue.

This film tells the story of several veterans who comes back from Iraq, struggling with their lives that have been torn apart by war.It is clear that the film tells how traumatising war is to the soldiers, and there seems to be inadequate "connection services" to help these soldiers back on track. The story has a lot of haunting moments, where the services don't care about teh veterans but the viewers care deeply about the veterans. It is a sad story that will touch your heart.