Movie Review: Thank you for Your Service

"Thank you for Your Service" is what we all say when we see an army Veteran, regardless of which war he was in. With all of the times I have said this to a War veteran, including even Senator John McCain, who I met in in April 2000, it has always felt like an awkward thing to say. Realizing that this statement that is the title of this movie; while sincere, always seems extremely inadequate compared to what many of these people have gone through. This movie is about the battle scars of war after these men return home and this aspect of the very harsh realities of war, was extremely well portrayed in this film.

Thank you for your Service is set in the year 2007, as the war in Iraq that started in March 2003 still raged on. Just about at the start of this film, 3 soldiers who are now close friends are on a plane returning home and what follows is a the story about the harsh reality of life and PTSD after fighting in a war. What this film did the best was to show the callousness of the Army officers these 3 soldiers encountered at the Veterans Administration that included stupid comments can be summed up by "Oh get over it". As these 3 men desperately struggled to recover from horror, the anger and the guilt they lived through in Iraq, they were faced with living in squalor when they returned home with no chance to ever get a normal job and the facing the incompetence of an overwhelmed Veterans Administration that seemed was completely incapable of helping any of them.

Very few of us are able to step out of ourselves and identify with a major trauma another person has gone through with the ability to not only relate to their trauma and give them empathy that is in proportion to the damage they have endured. The famous expression "Walk a Mile in my Shoes" comes to mind. This is never more true with War PTSD as compared any other type of psychological trauma. For solders like this, who have gone through hell and might never get over reliving the horrible events they witnessed, hearing something like "Just get over it" just might be the most infuriating and damaging thing they ever hear from anyone. Getting over PTSD is proportional to the severity of the trauma, the length of time involved and the ability of that persons brain to heal and stop reliving the events and the pictures that flash in their brain they can never stop replaying over and over again. Getting psychological help for many of these soldiers, due to the lack of funding and inefficiencies within the Veterans Administration has been inadequate in this country for many years, including the year the true story of this film is set; 2007.

I thought the acting with Thank you for Your Service was outstanding starting with Miles Teller who plays the starring role, Haley Bennett who plays Teller's wife,Beulah Koale who plays Teller's close friend from the war and surprisingly, comedian Amy Shumer who is proving that she is a very good dramatic actor as well as an outstanding standup comedian.

I highly recommend Thank you for Your Service.