Friday, July 13, 2018

Thank You for Your Service 2017


     This film is based on a bestselling book by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter David Finkel.  A group of U.S. soldiers return from Iraq and they struggle to fit back into society and their families.  They also suffer from survivor’s guilt, PTSD and memory loss.  The VA is overcrowded and understaffed.  They can get some help but it’s not enough and it takes several months to get benefits.  How can they get jobs when they can’t handle anything involving normal life?  Any minor event can trigger a memory that will take them right back to a scene from combat.  Adam Schumann learns there is a place in California working successfully with returning soldiers. 
     Just the sight of the dead grass at Adam’s former house sends him into a rage.  The family moved into another home and they are renting their other house for the income.  Tausolo Aieti is also having a difficult time plus his wife is expecting a baby.  He’s lost a lot of his memory and he struggles every day.  He thinks the drug Ecstasy will help with his memory?  He just needs to find a source.   I thought this was good and you see the events in Iraq that remain in the minds of the soldiers.  They place a lot of blame on themselves for the deaths and injuries suffered by their fellow soldiers.  A case of continual feelings of should’ve, could’ve and maybe!!!  3 ½* (I liked this movie)  
 
109 min Bio directed by Jason Hall with Miles Teller, Beulah Koale, Joe Cole, Scott Haze, Haley Bennett, Amy Schumer, Omar J. Dorsey, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Brad Beyer, Kerry Cahill, Stella Pileggi, David Morse, Adam Schumann.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 of 10, 77 critic 74 audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert 3 ½*, Amazon 4.3* out of 5* with 146 reviews, Metacritic 68 out of 100 with 34 critics 6.3 out of 10 with 35 reviews, Empire Online 4* out of 5*, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Mark Kermode.
Special Note:  Filmed in Morocco, Atlanta and Woodstock, Georgia.  Amy Schumer donated her salary to army war vet foundations.  The rehabilitation center referred to for treating PTSD in California is The Pathway Home located in Yountville in the Napa Valley.  There is a biography film with the same title from 2016 by Tom Donahue with Robert Gates, David Petraeus, Sebastian Junger, Mike Mullen and Loree Sutton.

No comments:

Post a Comment