Stateside (2004)

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

By far her best roll yet! Rachael Leigh Cook is so lovable in this role it hurts. I've been collecting her movies recently. Maybe first noticed her in 'Blow Dry', then had to see her in "Nancy Drew" on the Big Screen, then picked up "Josie and the Pussycats" from Local Library. By then I'm Hooked, so any movie I can't Rent or Borrow from the Library I'll buy on Half.com just to see everything she ever played. Rachael was adorable in "Sally", but where I thought that was the epitome of understanding Mental Illness - this movie jumps Far Beyond into the world of a Talented Singer/Actress slipping into Schizophrenia.The first few scenes are a bit confusing, as we are introduced to the Characters and set up the situation. But by the time the two young lovers meet, we are ready for the Love Affair of the Century. Can True Love survive years of separation, and Mental Illness? Can Imperfect Human Beings Love each other just as they are? Can people sacrifice their own gratification for the good of one they Love? If this filmed earned an "R" Rating, it is more for the Sexually Explicit Language than it's Nudity or Situations. The blunt talk is realistic for characters of this age. Overall, this is a very Moral Film about Love and Redemption. It left me More in Love with Rachael Leigh Cook, and More Romantic about Love!

Interesting movie. Has some real thought provoking parts. The main female lead (Cook) is shown as having schizophrenia. Usually, movies show such people as evil and people to be feared, which is not accurate and only worsens the negative stigma of mental illness - but makes for money making movies. Knowing a lot of the mental illness of schizophrenia, I can state that the producers of this movie have done a very good job of showing a real person with schizophrenia. Cook does a great job of showing that person.Yes, movie is somewhat disjointed and the ending somewhat abrupt. But it's still a meaningful movie.

I think all movies with plot developments that stretch a little bit should use the 'based on a true story' tag. With that you can get away with anything. What really happened in your true story? What did you shoehorn in there to make this point or that, or to throw viewers off the scent of trying to figure out who your actress girlfriend was?Val Kilmer was the most pleasant surprise of the movie.What was with the sequence where the rejected hero went drinking and hit on women with delightful facial pores and that had a predilection for taking shots of blue liquid and ended with a minor car accident with no consequences.Stateside had plenty of blind alleys like that. You don't have to smack me over the head to demonstrate plot points but several times there were inserted scenes of characters doing everyday things that neither advanced the plot, nor developed the characters, nor conveyed a relevant tone. It recalled She's under the Influence except done sloppily or ineffectively.The dialog was different. It had a spare poeticism that hit home at some points like when the father and the hero leave the courtroom. The dialog was stylizedatmposherics when coming out of the mouth of the Marine drill Seargeant. The dialog tried to convey too much complexity like when the worker who runs the group home explains why the hero can't see Dorie anymore. At all times, however, I could not escape hearing the voice of the screenwriter coming out of the mouths of each of the characters.There were other examples of self indulgence. Like at the school dance where the hero was herded into a group photo with a bevy of negligible characters. He used a snapshot freeze frame device which served little emotional purpose except to perhaps recreate one of the filmmaker's favorite photos of himself.What saved the movie for me were the scenes between the hero and Dorie. It felt genuine. When you create a new reality with someone, your language bends around that reality and the dialogue and performances conveyed that nicely.I'm all for subtlety and experimentation and extending or having fun with clichés. This movie had all of those, but it seems that the filmmaker could stand to polish his storytelling craft a shade or two better.Regarding identifying the mystery girl. Some possible hints:The name Exene was tossed around in the apartment with the band before the implied gang bang. Like maybe the band the mystery girl was in had some sort of connection to LA Punk band X with Exene Cervenka?The scene from the 'movie' Dorie was in seemed Bond like.Evil Dead came up in a conversation, though it seemed like she wasn't in that movie. Then later he went to see Evil Dead. Maybe the mystery girl was in evil dead. Most people in that movie other than the chin guy didn't make too many movies after evil dead.

I saw a prescreening of this lovely movie. It explores fresh exciting territory while telling an extremely realistic teen love story. When the leads sneak around and struggle to be together, it has the romance and fun of ROMEO AND JULIET. In other ways it reminds me of THE MAGDALENE SISTERS in that it tells a story that is important for people to see. However, just like in Magdalene Sisters the message doesn't interfere with the high level of entertainment. The mental illness doesn't take over the film. It just provides a unique obstacle that the lovers must get over to be together.The acting is excellent and the all the characters are really alive, flawed,passionate and interesting. All in all, this is a warm and funny movie.