ReelBob: ‘Thank You for Your Service’ ★★★

By Bob Bloom

Beneath its Hollywood gloss is a simmering resentment and despair that permeates “Thank You for Your Service.”

The movie, set in 2007 and “inspired by true events,” follows a trio of soldiers returning from Iraq.

They all are dealing — badly — with what they saw while in-country, but are too proud, ashamed and damaged to talk about their problems, except with each other.

Even then, they mostly bottle their churning emotions inside.

Writer-director Jason Hall does not overtly savage the Veterans Administration, but he does spotlight the bureaucracy and red tape that delays much-needed help and care — physical, emotional and mental — for our returning veterans.

Hall shows a system overwhelmed and unable to cope with all the veterans who need aid. Observing this organizational neglect makes you sad and angry. It makes the words of politicians who praise veterans ring hollow and insincere.

Miles Teller plays Sgt. Adam Schumann, who returns from Iraq physically intact, but scarred internally. He feels guilty over the death of a fellow soldier who took his spot on a patrol and for dropping a wounded comrade he was carrying from a rooftop down a long staircase to medics.

Schumann puts on a brave and stoic face for his wife, Saskia (Haley Bennett), but she realizes almost immediately that her man needs help.

Like many returnees, Schumann is hesitant to admit he has problems.

Fellow soldier, Solo (a touching performance by Beulah Koale), also needs help. He suffers from PTSD, mostly from a head trauma after his vehicle hit an IED.

Solo knows he is broken. He is forgetful and undergoes violent mood swings. Yet, like Schumann, VA obstacles keep Solo from the help he requires.

Tragedy befalls Emory (Scott Haze), the third returning soldier, who finds himself basically abandoned, but puts on a brave face to hide his turmoil.

Teller, who first made a splash in 2013’s “The Spectacular Now,” and was strong as the young drum student in “Whiplash,” internalizes his performance. He uses his eyes and facial expressions to signal us that all is not well — and that he knows he is spiraling downward.

Hall cannot resist dramatizing some aspects of the story, especially Solo’s involvement with some unsavory characters.

That, however, should not deter you from seeing “Thank You for Your Service.”

After seeing it, you should write, call or buy movie tickets for your congressman and senator. They should be forced to see this movie. Who knows, it may serve as a wake-up call to increase funding to help those who have served.

I am a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My reviews appear at ReelBob (reelbob.com) and Rottentomatoes (www.rottentomatoes.com). I also review Blu-rays and DVDs. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com or on Twitter @ReelBobBloom. Links to my reviews can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE
3 stars out of 4
(R), strong and graphic violence, language, brief nudity, sexual content, drug use