Stateside (2004)

A love story about two imperfect teenagers who find perfect love. The film follows the story of two teenagers from different worlds--Mark Deloach and Dori Lawrence--as their lives quickly spiral out of control. The rebellious but privileged Mark delves into dangerous antics resulting in a nearly fatal drunk driving accident, and Dori Lawrence, a wild actress and singer slowly loses touch with reality as she suffers from schizophrenia. Forced to straighten out their lives, Mark is sent to join the Marines and Dori is admitted into a mental hospital. In the midst of life's chaos, Mark and Dori are drawn to each other, recognizing their mutual desperation for love and understanding. Despite pressure from both their friends and family to keep their distance, they maintain their bond. While they fail to fix what's broken in each of their lives, they find comfort in each other's faults and have faith that their unconditional love will eventually heal their deep seeded wounds.

Little movie, big entertainment

I'd never heard of this when I got it out of the library. Very surprisingly well done love story about a mentally ill teen actress and her juvenile delinquent/soldier boyfriend with a sensitive side. Good script and nuanced acting make this one a cut above. May 18, 2008

A Coming-of-Age, True Story with Lots of Heart!

This film is based on a true story (of the writer/director's own life as a teen) and it revolves around the unlikely romance between a schizophrenic starlet & a young, silver spoon marine--who must serve his country or serve prison time--and how his life is changed by their romance & his military service. The film offers some very tender, touching, & heartwrenching moments and the romance is great & really believable. The stars have great romantic chemistry & the relationship is very realistic and reaffirming. They are a couple you find yourself rooting for & believing in. March 2, 2008

Great Acting.

One of the best , least seen movies in years. Great screenplay, fabulous acting. A MUST SEE. January 4, 2007

"Based on True Events" but still kind of dull...

The first ten minutes of this film seemed promising but unfortunately it never quite came together for me. I only kept watching because I was vaguely interested in who the real "Dori Lawrence" could have been. (Online sources think that it is perhaps an actress named Sarah Holcomb.)

In the end however, I didn't find myself really caring who the real life actress was...and even the fact that this film is "based on true events" doesn't make it any more relevant and/or "real" to me.

I think it maybe tried to cover too much in too short a time period and it just came up short. Parts of it were certainly interesting, but in the end the film as a *whole* couldn't hold water. There are just too many holes.

My first comment after the first fifteen minutes: "This looks good, I think I'll have to borrow it and watch it again."

My final comment after the credits rolled: "Huh. Actually, I don't think I liked it." November 24, 2006

Everything Including a Kitchen Sink

After a disastrous and very short run theatrical release "Stateside" has been playing regularly on cable for over a year. Playing regularly is somewhat of an understatement as those with a digital cable package can pretty much find it on some channel any day and anytime. Fortunately the film is ideal for piecemeal viewing (watching a scene here and a scene there- not necessarily in sequence until you realize you have seen the whole thing) because it is nicely written and is actually more coherent and entertaining when viewed in little snippets. This is a nice way of saying the film lacks unity and that the whole is less than the sum of its parts. But the parts themselves are well worth viewing.

What you have here is an unorganized mix of disparate elements, each typically used by themselves to carry a movie. Start with the standard Freddie Bartholomew (Captains Courageous", "Lord Jeff" etc.) rich kid from a neglectful home, add a bit of reckless prep school teen drinking which injures a Priest ("Cruel Intentions"), plus a boot camp coming of age story ("Full Metal Jacket"), for your love interest insert a female rock star and actress with mental problems ("Francis" and "Girl Interrupted"), and then a return from the war as a disabled veteran ("The Best Years of Our Lives").

Although "Stateside" doesn't work as a whole package and sets the all-time record for credibility problems there is still a lot of entertaining stuff here. Jonathan Tucker is appealing in the lead role and actually brings some credibility to a character going through enough life changes for ten movies. Rachel Leigh Cook basically does her Ruthie character from "The Big Empty", who I suspect is pretty much her real life self. Her Dori character is supposed to suffer from schizophrenia, but if you don't know what that is going into the film, you won't understand it any better after viewing. Apparently the writer thinks anyone who is irreverent, impulsive, and moody must be schizo (then again maybe they are). But since Dori's precise psychological problems are irrelevant to the plot this doesn't really get in the way of the basic story.

Val Kilmer does a good impression of a R. Lee Ermy drill sergeant. Ermy himself has gotten too old for these parts but this allows the director to show a nice human side rather than a simple caricature. Although the lyrics for "Scotty Doesn't Know kept running through my head each time he was featured.

The most compelling performance is by Agnes Bruckner, playing the best-named character this decade, Sue "of the Dubervilles" Dubois. Bruckner's scenes sparkle and you rejoice every time she appears.

Bottom line, virtually everyone will find something to like somewhere inside "Stateside". It gives you basic training, prep school, girl rockers, mental cases, romance, DWI, hospitals, sex, mansions, and Agnes Bruckner.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child. May 25, 2006

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