If You Like: Thank You For Your Service…

If you like stories about war heroes, then you will like Thank You For Your Service. The movie centres on soldiers who have returned from the war in Iraq and their troubled adjustment to ordinary life. Nothing is sugar-coated or glorified. Kaycee liked that aspect very much. It’s a film to watch for both people who like history and action,  as well as those who like character development. Miles Teller is stunning in the lead role. The trailer gets it right: “A group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they’ve left the battlefield.” PS Jason Hall – who was Devon MacLeish in Buffy and the Vampire Slayer – also wrote the screenplay for American Sniper. He wrote and directed Thank You For Your Service, based on the book by David Finkel.

Come in to Movie Junkie, where everybody knows your name and what kind of movies you like! (Plus they’ll get you to try something different now and then.)

Megan Leavey: If You Like

…stories based on true accounts of heroic actions, then you will like Megan Leavey. The title character is a young Marine corporal who has some issues of her own (at least in the movie version), which help her to understand and bond with a difficult-to-manage military combat dog. Rex is a gifted bomb-sniffing German Shepherd whose unique skills are paired with a somewhat grumpy personality.  Of course the movie is a Hollywood version of reality, but it’s well done. A frightening firefight; the PTSD Leavey suffers on her return – all depicted extremely well. Great acting by Kate Mara and a fabulous turn by Edie Falco as her difficult mother. This movie is heartwarming as well as inspiring!

Brawl in Cell Block 99: If You Like…

…Vince Vaughn. Extreme, pointless violence. Vince Vaughn. Grunts, Sling-blade talk, mushed-up body parts. Vince Vaughn. Revenge movies. Vince Vaughn. Then you might like Brawl. Seriously, many critics loved it. Kay and Cee did not. Jonathan Pile said: After a slow start, “the film starts to mutate from the gritty drama of its first hour, to a balls-out, grindhouse-inspired thrill-ride, where arms can be snapped in two and Don Johnson is a sadistic prison warden.” Jeanette Catsoulis in the NY Times, said, “Bradley, stripped to a single, galvanizing intention — to save his kidnapped wife (Jennifer Carpenter) and unborn daughter by killing a high-value inmate — never loses our sympathy.” Kay says it’s so over-the-top it’s ridiculous. Cee says it’s boring and icky. But hey, somebody out there likes it. Owen Gleiberman said: “…an audience of Euro swells in tuxedoes and five-inch heels gave the movie, and its star, a standing ovation. They were applauding the film’s — and Vaughn’s — conviction, as well as the vise-like grip of its how-dark-is-this-gonna-get? suspense.”

There you go. Kaycee doesn’t always get it right.

ALL SAINTS – IF YOU LIKE:

KAYCEE’S MOVIE JUNKIE CRITIQUES: ALL SAINTS – IF YOU LIKE…

If you like stories about real people who face a challenge and conquer it with faith, love and community, you will like ALL SAINTS. It’s a true story and many of the “actors” are the actual people involved in the task to save a church. Slated to be demolished and made into condos, the building and the land have become a safe haven for a few refugees and other people who have been forgotten. The new pastor (John Corbett) decides he doesn’t want to close this sanctuary, but he has to create a miracle to save it. Heart-warming, endearing, character-driven movie.

Details: The film trailer states: “ALL SAINTS is based on the inspiring true story of salesman-turned-pastor Michael Spurlock (John Corbett), the tiny church he was ordered to shut down, and a group of refugees from Southeast Asia. Together, they risked everything to plant seeds for a future that might just save them all.” It’s a slow-moving story in some ways, but could be a film for the whole family (though not very young children, due to its unhurried, quiet style). Pastor Michael Spurlock decides the way to save the church is to use the land. Plant essential crops, sell them, and pay the mortgage with the profit. The Pastor and the community that surrounds him experience a great deal trying to make this plan work and they are all tested in different ways. In the end, faith and love prevail.

Jungle: If You Like…

If you like edge-of-your-seat tension, true stories, survival tales, and great acting, JUNGLE is a movie for you. Daniel Radcliffe is almost unrecognizable, has a credible accent, and is terrific in this role. You will be breathless by the end and awed by the real-life men who survived a terrible ordeal.

The trailer reads: “A group of friends join a guide for a trek into the Bolivian jungle, searching for an Indian village. The men soon realize that the jungle is a difficult place to be.” Unfortunately, the guide leads the friends into some untenable situations. The will to survive is very strong in this film. There are several times when less determined people would have been forgiven if they had given up.

A great tribute to courage and persistence.