Thank You for Your Service is a hard movie to watch. Its graphic realism and unblinking look at post-traumatic stress disorder make it almost feel like a documentary. However, even though it brings an important subject to light, the movie seems to oversimplify the issue at hand and it doesn't really go anywhere.

"Thank You For Your Service" (2017 release; 108 min.) brings the story of 3 guys returning home after serving in Iraq. As the movie opens, we are in "Rustamiyah, Iraq", where we are at the tail end of a mission gone horribly wrong. Shortly thereafter, the guys return home to Topeka, KS. Sergeant Schumann is awaited by his wife and 2 young kids, and he tries mightily to fit in. His other mates similarly encounter issues, and all grow restless and desperate. At this point we're less than 15 min. into the movie, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the directing debut of screen writer Jason Hall, working from David Finkel's non-fiction book of the same name. The movie shines a light on a shameful episode of American society: in the last 15 years, we have send hundreds of thousands of young (mostly) men and (some) women to the Middle East, and when they return home, many of them struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder, only to find that much needed help is mostly not available. The movie perfectly captures that is the administrative madness of the Department of Veterans Administration. The VA's shortcomings have been known for YEARS, yet seemingly nothing is being done about it. Meanwhile these veterans suffer (and worse). Miles Teller as Sergeant Schumann is outstanding (by coincidence, this is the second weekend in a row where Teller stars as a true hero--just last weekend I saw him in "Only the Brave"),as is (for me newcomer) Beulah Koale as the troubled Solo, and Haley Bennett as Schumann's loyal wife. But perhaps the most remarkable performance comes from Amy Schumer as the widow of of of the perished soldiers, MILES away from her usual comedy roles. CAUTION about the movie's trailer: is is completely misleading, as it makes it look very much "American Sniper" like, when in fact only about 10 min. of "Thank You For Your Service" plays out in Iraq (in that sense, the movie is similar in tone to the late 70s Vietnam war movie "Coming Home"). Also this: in recent weeks, there was separately a very prominent trailer in the theaters where Shania Twain presents (and plays) her song "Soldier" as being from this movie. Guess what: that song is NOT in the movie AT ALL, not even just a few seconds. Shamefully misleading again. (Instead, there is a powerful new Bruce Springsteen song, "Freedom Cadence", that plays over the movie's end titles).

"Thank You For Your Service" opened wide this weekend. The Friday evening screening where I saw this at here in Cincinnati was attended okay but the small theater was by no means close to a sell-out. No matter. "Thank You For Your Service" is one of those all-too-rare movies that is actually a good movie, while also bringing a powerful and important message/reminder. What have we come to as a society when we do not provide much needed help and support to the hundreds of thousands of troops that have served our nation with honor and bravery? I readily recommend that you check out "Thank You For Your Service", be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray.

"Thank you for your service" is based on the true story of a handful of veterans of the Iraq war struggling to reintegrate society after they're done serving. While I always thought these stories were of significant interest, I do find that most films depicting them often lose themselves in preachy patriotism or some sort of either pro- or anti-war narrative that lacks nuance. "Thank you for your service" avoids these traps for the most part, but unfortunately, its narrative framework consistently remains within the realm of clichés throughout its runtime, and the film never attempts to explore and tackle other underlying issues that could have brought much appreciated depth to its story and characters.

This is all very common territory here, with the typical bureaucrats not being too helpful, the veteran affairs facilities being packed leading to tremendous delays in treatment, veterans stuck in poverty and barely able to make ends meet, and eventually drifting into criminal activity. While this accurately reflects the very disturbing reality of a society that's always ready to send its young, uneducated, vulnerable men to fight in its wars, but will shamelessly abandon them afterwards, leaving them financially and mentally broken, the film seems content to present this various components of this harsh reality such as poverty, the centralization of treatment facilities, the lack of resources, the military culture, and others in a very generic manner, and wrap those up as a more general, overarching issue that has already been exposed quite extensively in movies and television.

The film's main strength is definitely its cast, with Miles Teller starring and offering an impressive performance that is complex albeit on the edge of being a tad too stoic at times. Beulah Koale also shines throughout the film, although much like other characters, his could have benefited from a few more elaborate and less predictable narrative developments. Nevertheless, the dialogue is fluid and adds a ton of credibility to these soldiers' "brotherhood" and to their respective struggles within their relationships. Oh, and Amy Schumer is barely recognizable and impresses for as long as she appears on screen.

The direction is overall pretty good, although, again, it just doesn't feel too much out of the ordinary. The film never seems to drag, and is well paced. The war sequences are somewhat conventional, but there are a few standout shots here and there to let you know that Jason Hall knows what he's doing.

"Thank you for your service" is an overall fair undertaking, not ground-breaking by any stretch of the imagination, but nonetheless interesting enough to keep your eyes on the screen for its entire runtime without looking at your watch. To me it felt a bit like a missed opportunity, because I think this harsh reality that these veterans face is a major issue in our society, and warrants a more in-depth meditation, which this film will not not achieve to spark, unfortunately.