Thank You for Your Service (2017 film)

Last updated
Thank You for Your Service
Thank you for your service.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jason Hall
Screenplay byJason Hall
Based on Thank You for Your Service
by David Finkel
Produced by Jon Kilik
Starring
Cinematography Roman Vasyanov
Edited by
Music by Thomas Newman
Production
companies
Distributed by Universal Pictures [2] (Worldwide)
Mister Smith Entertainment [2] (EMEA)
Release dates
  • October 15, 2017 (2017-10-15)(Heartland)
  • October 27, 2017 (2017-10-27)(United States)
Running time
108 minutes [3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million [4]
Box office$10 million
$2.3 million (Video Sales) [4] [5]

Thank You for Your Service is a 2017 American biographical war drama film written and directed by Jason Hall, in his directorial debut, and based on the 2013 non-fiction book of the same name by David Finkel. Finkel, a Washington Post reporter, wrote about veterans of the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment returning to the vicinity of Fort Riley, Kansas, following a 15-month deployment in Iraq in 2007. The film is about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depicting U.S. soldiers who try to adjust to civilian life, and stars Miles Teller, Haley Bennett, Beulah Koale, Amy Schumer, and Scott Haze. Bruce Springsteen wrote the song "Freedom Cadence" specifically for the closing credits. [6]

Contents

The film had its world premiere at the Heartland Film Festival on October 15, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States on October 27, 2017, by Universal Pictures. It received generally positive reviews, with praise for the performances (particularly that of Teller, Bennett, and Koale), [7] but grossed just $9 million against its $20 million budget. [8]

Plot

After a harrowing 15-month combat tour in Iraq, the much-decorated Adam Schumann returns home to Kansas and a loving wife, Saskia. Adam and Saskia have two young children, a daughter and an infant son born while Adam was still overseas. Adam suffers from PTSD as manifested by nightmares and frequent flashbacks for which his wife convinces him to seek help from an overburdened Department of Veterans Affairs. He also receives solace from two Iraq buddies living nearby, an American Samoan, Solo Aieti, and a White American, Billy Waller, who commits suicide in front of his fiancée after discovering she has taken all of his money and their child and left him.

Adam's unresolved psychological issues revolve around his failure to safely rescue a fellow soldier from a building under fire (Michael Emory, who was dropped on his head and rendered hemiplegic but later expresses gratitude to Adam for being alive) and survivor's guilt about letting Sergeant First Class James Doster take Adam's place on patrol one day. With Doster filling in for Adam, the Humvee made a wrong turn and hit an improvised explosive device. Solo assisted the men in their escape to safety, but Doster was inadvertently left behind and died in the conflagration. Doster's grieving widow, Amanda, who is friends with Saskia Schumann, finally gains closure as she learns the circumstances of her husband's death towards the end of the movie and absolves Adam and Solo of responsibility for it.

Meanwhile, Solo suffers from such severe PTSD and memory loss that he is unable to fulfill a fervent desire to reenlist for another tour in Iraq. He falls in with a group of drug dealers led by a Gulf War veteran, Dante. Adam rescues his friend and puts him on a Greyhound bus to California, where Solo will take Adam's reserved place at a rehabilitation center specializing in the treatment of PTSD.

Sometime later, Adam returns from his own stay at the rehabilitation center, being greeted by his wife and children back in their original home.

Cast

Production

On March 12, 2013, DreamWorks announced that it had acquired the film rights to David Finkel's then-upcoming non-fiction book Thank You for Your Service , about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in soldiers who return from the war in Iraq and have difficulties in adapting to civilian life. [15] Steven Spielberg was expected to direct the film, [15] and, in June 2013, American Sniper 's Oscar-nominated scribe Jason Dean Hall was hired to adapt the book into a film. [16] [17] Daniel Day-Lewis was later eyed to re-team with Spielberg on the film. [18]

On June 30, 2015, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that screenwriter Hall would instead be making his directorial debut with the film from his own script. [17] Jon Kilik produced the film, which Universal Pictures distributes in the United States. [14]

On August 19, 2015, it was reported that Miles Teller was in talks to join the film as Adam Schumann, a soldier who leaves Iraq as a broken man. [9] [10] On October 20, 2015, Haley Bennett was cast to play Schumann's loyal and supportive wife. [11] [10] On December 2, 2015, New Zealand-based newcomer Beulah Koale was cast to play Solo, an American Samoan soldier who feels that the military has made his life better. [10] On January 7, 2016, Scott Haze was added to play a soldier suffering from PTSD. [14] On January 28, 2016, Joe Cole joined the film to play a soldier who returns home in crisis and tries to find his fiancée and their daughter who have left him, while Jayson Warner Smith joined the film to play a receptionist at a Veterans Affairs office. [12] On February 9, 2016, Amy Schumer joined the cast with three others, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Brad Beyer, and Omar Dorsey. [13] It was later revealed that Kate Lyn Sheil had also joined the cast. [19]

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on February 9, 2016, in Atlanta, Georgia. [20] In March 2016, it filmed at the Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, Georgia. [21]

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Heartland Film Festival on October 15, 2017, [22] and was theatrically released in the United States on October 27, 2017. [23]

Promotion

On October 20, 2017, Universal and DreamWorks announced a partnership with AMC Theatres to give more than 10,000 free tickets to the film to veterans and service members. [24]

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Thank You for Your Service was released alongside Jigsaw and Suburbicon , and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,054 theaters in its opening weekend. [25] It ended up debuting to $3.7 million, finishing 6th at the box office, and marking the second straight week Teller was featured in a well-received but underperforming biopic, following Only the Brave . [26] In its second weekend it grossed $2.3 million, dropping 40%, and finishing 7th at the box office. [27]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 77% based on 113 reviews, with an average rating of 6.69/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Thank You for Your Service takes a sobering and powerfully acted – if necessarily incomplete – look at soldiers grappling with the horrific emotional impact of war." [28] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [29] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. [26]

Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com gave the film 3.5/4 stars, stating that, although a studio picture:

...has been written, shot, edited and acted in such an intimate and unobtrusive way that the result feels like a throwback to an earlier era of American mainstream filmmaking, when it was still possible to base a handsomely produced feature film around observed behavior. [30]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Rieckhoff</span> American activist

Paul (P.J.) Rieckhoff is an American writer, social entrepreneur, activist and veteran of the United States Army and the Iraq War. He is the president of Righteous Media Inc and the host of the Independent Americans podcast. Prior to that, he was the founder, CEO and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), a non-partisan non-profit founded in 2004. He served as an Army first lieutenant and infantry rifle platoon leader in Iraq from 2003 through 2004. Rieckhoff was released from the Army National Guard in 2007. He is also the Karl Lowenstein Distinguished Visiting Lecturer in the Political Science Department at Amherst College, where he designed and taught a class on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, titled "Understanding 9/11".

Juba, sometimes spelled Joba, is the pseudonym of an anonymous sniper with the Sunni insurgent group Islamic Army in Iraq involved in the Iraqi insurgency, featured in several videos released between 2005 and 2007. Juba became famous after videos showing footage of his shootings appeared online. The second of these videos shows Juba marking a tally of 37 "kills". Juba became a folk hero among many Iraqis due to his role in fighting against the American military in Iraq.

<i>On Killing</i> Book by Dave Grossman

On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society is a book by Dave Grossman exploring the psychology of the act of killing and the military law enforcement establishments attempt to understand and deal with the consequences of killing. The book is based on S.L.A. Marshall's theory that the majority of soldiers in war do not ever fire their weapons due to an innate resistance to killing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haley Bennett</span> American actress (born 1988)

Haley Loraine Keeling, known professionally as Haley Bennett, is an American actress and singer. She made her film debut in the romantic comedy Music and Lyrics (2007) and has since appeared in films such as The Equalizer (2014), The Magnificent Seven (2016), Hillbilly Elegy (2020), and Cyrano (2021) as Roxanne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Finkel</span> American journalist

David Louis Finkel is an American journalist. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2006 as a staff writer at The Washington Post. As of January 2017, he was national enterprise editor at the Post. He has also worked for the Post's foreign staff division. He wrote The Good Soldiers and Thank You for Your Service. He is a 2012 MacArthur Fellow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wounded Warrior Project</span> Nonprofit organization

Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an American charity and veterans service organization that operates as a nonprofit 501(c)(3). WWP offers a variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans who incurred a physical or mental injury, illnesses, or co-incident to their military service on or after September 11, 2001. Military family members and caregivers are also eligible for WWP programs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longest recorded sniper kills</span>

Reports regarding the longest recorded sniper kills that contain information regarding the shooting distance and the identity of the sniper have been presented to the general public since 1967. Snipers have had a substantial history following the development of long distance weaponry. As weapons, ammunition, and aids to determine ballistic solutions improved, so too did the distance from which a kill could be targeted. In mid-2017 it was reported that an unnamed Canadian special forces operator, based in Iraq, had set a new record of 3,540 m (3,871 yd), beating the record previously held by an Australian sniper at 2,815 m (3,079 yd). In November 2023, the record was once again broken by 58-year old Ukrainian sniper, Vyacheslav Kovalsky from the Security Service of Ukraine, who shot a Russian soldier from a distance of 3,800 m (4,156 yd) during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miles Teller</span> American actor (born 1987)

Miles Teller is an American actor. He made his feature film debut with the independent drama Rabbit Hole (2010), and gained wider recognition for his roles in the coming-of-age film The Spectacular Now (2013) and the Divergent film trilogy (2014–2016). His breakthrough role came in the drama Whiplash (2014) which earned him critical acclaim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Kyle</span> American military sniper (1974–2013)

Christopher Scott Kyle was a United States Navy SEAL sniper. He served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat. He had 160 confirmed kills and was awarded a Silver Star, three Bronze Star Medals with "V" devices for valor, 2x Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with "V" device, as well as numerous other unit and personal awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Haze</span> American actor

Scott Haze is an American actor. He is known for his role in the 2013 film Child of God, as well as Thank You for Your Service (2017), the 2021 western Old Henry, and others. He also directed Mully (2015), a documentary on the African humanitarian Charles Mully.

<i>Man Down</i> (film) 2015 American film

Man Down is a 2015 American war thriller drama film directed by Dito Montiel, written by Adam G. Simon, and starring Shia LaBeouf, Jai Courtney, Gary Oldman, Kate Mara, and Clifton Collins Jr. The film follows a Marine who returns from Afghanistan to find his hometown devastated, and his wife and son missing.

<i>Thank You for Your Service</i> (book) 2013 nonfiction book by David Finkel

Thank You for Your Service, written by the American journalist David Finkel, is the follow-up non-fiction book to The Good Soldiers, which chronicles the lives of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion in Baghdad during 2007 and 2008. With this sequel, Finkel examines the soldiers' lives back home in the United States as they struggle to readjust to family and civilian life. The book was published in 2013 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

<i>War Dogs</i> (2016 film) 2016 film by Todd Phillips

War Dogs is a 2016 American black comedy crime film directed by Todd Phillips and written by Phillips, Jason Smilovic and Stephen Chin, based on a 2011 Rolling Stone article by Guy Lawson, as well as Efraim Diveroli's 2016 memoir Once a Gun Runner as outlined in an ongoing lawsuit. Lawson then wrote a 2015 book, Arms and the Dudes, detailing the story. The film follows two arms dealers, Efraim Diveroli and David Packouz, who receive a U.S. Army contract to supply ammunitions for the Afghan National Army worth approximately $300 million. The film, which has an unreliable narrator, is heavily fictionalized and dramatized, and some of its events, such as the duo driving through Iraq, were either invented or based on other events, such as screenwriter Stephen Chin's own experiences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 MTV Movie Awards</span>

The 2015 MTV Movie Awards were held on April 12, 2015, at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California. This was the 24th installment of the award show and the second time the Nokia Theatre would serve as its venue. The award show was hosted by comedian, writer, and actress Amy Schumer. The announcement was made on Wednesday, December 10, 2014.

<i>Suburbicon</i> 2017 film by George Clooney

Suburbicon is a 2017 American black comedy crime film directed by George Clooney and co-written by the Coen brothers, Clooney, and Grant Heslov. It stars Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, Noah Jupe, and Oscar Isaac, and follows a mild-mannered father in 1959 who must face his demons after a home invasion, all while a black family moves into the all-white neighborhood. The black family storyline is loosely based on a 1957 incident in Levittown, Pennsylvania, in which a black family moved into the previously all-white neighborhood, leading to racism and violence against the family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camillo Mac Bica</span> American philosopher, poet, activist, and author

Camillo Mac Bica is an American philosopher, poet, activist, and author.

Beulah Koale is a New Zealand actor best known for portraying Officer Junior Reigns in CBS reboot series Hawaii Five-0.

<i>Thank You for Your Service</i> (2015 film) 2015 American film

Thank You for Your Service is a 2015 documentary film by Tom Donahue that focuses on our superficial understanding of war trauma and the failed policies that result. Observing the systemic neglect, the film argues for significant internal change and offers a roadmap for hope. The film premiered at DOC NYC in November 2015.

Luis Carlos Montalvan was an American soldier and author. He was born in Washington, DC and grew up in Potomac, MD, received a BA from the University of Maryland and a Master's in Journalism from Columbia University. He served two tours of duty in Iraq and was an advocate for the use of service dogs. He also raised awareness about PTSD and its impact on veterans. He was also known for his New York Times Bestselling memoir, Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him, co-written with author, Bret Witter, in 2011. Tuesday, Luis's service dog and the subject of the eponymous book, died in September 2019.

References

  1. Kroll, Justin (February 9, 2016). "Amy Schumer to Co-Star in PTSD Drama From 'American Sniper' Writer". Variety . Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Kroll, Justin (February 9, 2016). "Amy Schumer to Co-Star in PTSD Drama From 'American Sniper' Writer". Variety. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  3. "Thank You for Your Service". British Board of Film Classification . Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Thank You for Your Service (2017)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  5. "Thank You For Your Service (2017)". The Numbers . Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  6. "'Thank You for Your Service' Director Talks New Bruce Springsteen Song Featured in Film". Variety . 25 October 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
  7. "Review Roundup: Did Critics Salute THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE?". Broadway World . Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  8. Giles, Jeff (October 26, 2017). "Suburbicon is a Stale Satire". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  9. 1 2 Sneider, Jeff (August 19, 2015). "Miles Teller in Talks to Star in DreamWorks' PTSD Drama 'Thank You For Your Service' (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sneider, Jeff (December 2, 2015). "DreamWorks' PTSD Drama 'Thank You For Your Service' Finds Third Lead (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  11. 1 2 Kroll, Justin (October 20, 2015). "Haley Bennett in Talks to Star With Miles Teller in 'Thank You for Your Service'". Variety. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Sneider, Jeff (January 28, 2016). "'Peaky Blinders,' 'Birth of a Nation' Actors Join Miles Teller in 'Thank You For Your Service' (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Fleming, Mike Jr. (February 9, 2016). "Amy Schumer Takes Serious Turn In 'Thank You For Your Service;' PTSD Drama By 'American Sniper' Scribe Jason Hall". Deadline. Retrieved March 1, 2016.
  14. 1 2 3 Sneider, Jeff (January 7, 2016). "'Child of God's' Scott Haze Joins Miles Teller in DreamWorks' PTSD Drama 'Thank You for Your Service' (Exclusive)". TheWrap. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  15. 1 2 Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 12, 2013). "DreamWorks Takes On Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Acquiring Upcoming David Finkel Book 'Thank You For Your Service'". Deadline. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  16. Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 4, 2013). "How Jason Hall Went From Struggling Actor To Hot Screenwriter With 'American Sniper' And Two More Big Deals Coming". Deadline. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  17. 1 2 Kit, Borys (June 30, 2015). "'American Sniper' Writer to Direct PTSD Drama 'Thank You for Your Service' for DreamWorks". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  18. Jagernauth, Kevin (June 4, 2013). "Steven Spielberg Eyeing Possible Reteam With Daniel Day-Lewis On PTSD War Drama 'Thank You For Your Service'". Indiewire. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  19. Bernardi, Tommy. "LSTFI ALUMNI MILES TELLER AND KATE LYN SHEIL SHARE THE SCREEN IN THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE". methodactingstrasberg.com. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
  20. "Principal Photography Begins on 'Thank You for Your Service'". Business Wire . February 9, 2016. Retrieved February 29, 2016.
  21. "'Thank You For Your Service', starring Miles Teller, filming mall scene in Atlanta today". OLV. March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
  22. "Heartland Film Festival Announces 2017 Lineup, Will Honor Hollywood Legends Rob Reiner and Alan Ladd, Jr. with Lifetime Achievement Awards". Heartland Film Festival . September 15, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
  23. McNary, Dave (March 23, 2017). "Miles Teller's War Drama 'Thank You for Your Service' Gets Awards Season Release". Variety .
  24. Universal Pictures(Oct 20, 2017) "UNIVERSAL PICTURES AND AMC THEATRES® OFFER U.S. VETERANS AND ACTIVE-DUTY SERVICEMEMBERS UP TO 10,000 FREE TICKETS TO DREAMWORKS PICTURES' "THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE" PR Newswire.
  25. Anthony D'Alessandro (October 25, 2017). "Jigsaw' Looks To Keep 'Saw' Franchise Sharp During Pre-Halloween Weekend With $20M+ Opening" . Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  26. 1 2 Anthony D'Alessandro (29 October 2017). "Horror Has Few Scares At B.O. As 'Jigsaw' Dulls To $16M+, 'Suburbicon' Condemned With D- CinemaScore". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved October 29, 2017.
  27. Anthony D'Alessandro. "'Thor: Ragnarok' Flexes His Box Office Muscles To $120M-$122M Opening – Early Sunday AM Update". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  28. "Thank You for Your Service (2017)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  29. "Thank You for Your Service (2017) Reviews". Metacritic . CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved October 27, 2017.
  30. Seitz, Matt Zoller (October 26, 2017). "Thank You for Your Service Movie Review (2017)". RogerEbert.com . Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved October 27, 2017.