Stateside

Plot synopsis:
Dorri Lawrence (Cook) is an actress and singer who resides in Hollywood, California. She has undiagnosed schizophrenia, which causes problems in her career. After another concert goes wrong due to her untreated disease, she is finally sent to get help for her schizophrenia.
Meanwhile, Mark Deloach (Tucker) is a rich high school kid miles away, attending a Catholic school. Though generally shy around girls and a good kid, he takes part in underage drinking. His brother, Gregory, who has secret sexual rendezvous with the prestigious Sue Dubois (Bruckner), has one of their dirty notes blamed on him. He and a buddy of his decide to pay him back by taking Sue back to her mother and reveal what's been going on with her and Gregory which they knew she will not approve of. In the process a DWI car crash occurs, resulting in the injury of both Sue and Father Concoff (Begley), the principal of their high school.
Sue's mother, Mrs. Dubois (Fisher), decides to press charges against Mark. However, a deal is made to have Mark serve in the Marine Corps instead of jail time.
Mark departs to his training and finds that the Senior Drill Instructor, Staff Sergeant Skeer (Kilmer), has taken an interest in him as his pet project due to Mark using the Corps to escape jail time. Eventually, Mark satisfies the tough platoon leader and Mark officially becomes a Marine.
Once back home he finds himself cutting ties with his friends and ends up befriending Sue, who is now in a half way house, and Dorri, who is her roommate. He also apologizes to Father Concoff, who accepts his apology though still angry with what occurred. Mark and Dorri set up a date with each other to go to a dance, but she doesn't get to go. Mark leaves her a gift. Later, he and Dorri go out on a date and Mark loses his virginity to her.
Dorri and Mark keep in contact through letters and phone calls, but eventually Dorri's illness worsens and she loses touch with reality. Friends and family beg Mark to help Dorri get treatment, but he opposes any suggestion that might separate them. Eventually, an intervention support group keeps the two away from each other.
Mark is deployed to overseas action and is injured in the bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut in 1983. He returns home with an honorable discharge. Apart for two years, Dorri contacts Mark in a hospital where he has been healing from his wounds. They plan to marry and start a new life together.

Tags: insanity, flashback

Review:
Knowing a lot of the mental illness of schizophrenia, I can state that the producers of this movie have done a very good job of showing a real person with schizophrenia.
Cook does a great job of showing that person.Yes, movie is somewhat disjointed and the ending somewhat abrupt.
You know the one, where the girl and guy meet cute, fall in love during a musical interlude, break up, and get back together at the end, typically with the guy racing to the airport to catch the girl at the last minute before she boards her plane.
Stateside reminded me of movies that I saw back in the sixties, like The Graduate.
But haven't these people ever heard of "willing suspension of disbelief?" Besides, countless romantic stories have derived their drama from the fact that the guy and girl are so different from each other.
And unlike most 'opposites attract' movies, Stateside doesn't shy away from showing how difficult it would be for these two to have any kind of long-term relationship.These critics apparently missed the point of the movie.
It is about a bittersweet romance that would never have happened if not for Dori's mental illness.
If Dori had not been mentally ill, she would have married some rock star or movie star.
Before meeting Dori, he probably expected to fall in love with an average but mentally stable girl.
He gave up that prospect in order to do something he would have previously thought impossible-have a relationship with a real pin-up girl.Jonathan Tucker and Rachel Leigh Cook are outstanding as Mark and Dori, especially Cook.
She plays such a sweet, innocent and guileless beauty that you have no trouble believing that Tucker's character could fall in love with her despite her mental illness.
What she reveals is a very likable character.By the way, the story is based on the director's own life.
He was a rich kid who fell in love with a mentally ill actress.
Stateside breaks the mold of teen love stories.
The real-life Marine experience of director of Reverge Anselmo brings a sense of realism to the film that is often lacking in pictures about the military  which tend to be heavy with political rhetoric and are often written by people who experience wartime from Berkley CA.This picture is enhanced by a spectacular soundtrack that compliments the film well.
Val Kilmer and Joe Mantegna combine for about 15 minutes of screen time.The reviews for this movie were mixed.
However, if you're looking for a romantic movie or a hidden gem drama, you can do a lot worse with an hour and a half of your life..
Having shared many conversations with Reverge Anselmo, I found him to be the honorable person portrayed in this wonderful film based on a time in his life.
I look forward to seeing future films from this talented writer/director, who presents glimpses of his interior with each project and who will meet with continued success telling stories that resonate with audiences..
The plot really hit home for my girlfriend and I because I'm going to be going to boot camp for the Marines in a month, so we just happened to pick it up and were instantly locked in.
Val Kilmer gives an amusing and extremely different performance as a Marine DI, he steals all of his scenes and his dialog with the recruits is hilarious.
While I liked the film i'll admit i'm being a little biased since i'm going to enlist in the Marines, this movie is not for everybody.
It's a good movie for men and women in the military who have to deal with being able to see the ones they love not as often as they'd like to.
It's just a sweet romance movie that has real and down to earth dialog, that will remind anybody about those little dorky moments that lovers have and always remember..
"Stateside" is 'based on a true story' and tells the tale of a rich teenager who gets into trouble and is allowed to avoid prison by enlisting in the Marines; he falls in love with a disturbed young woman.
Mark (Jonathan Tucker) is a prep school student with a strict father who sends him to the Marines; Dori (Rachael Leigh Cook) is an aspiring musician with a temper and mental problems.
They do a good job of introducing us to the characters; both are quite likable.The film picks up when our leads are falling in love.
I recommend "Stateside" for movie fans who want more to their romantic comedies..
It also seems to be missing a cohesive story, and good direction.The story follows a young marine (Jonathan Tucker) who can't help but fall in love with a mentally ill musician (Rachael Leigh Cook.) As he spends time with her, her recovery begins to slow to the point where he is forced to sever contact.
Believe me, by this point you won't care.I found the story hard to follow as the movie stumbled forward.
Sorry I squirt water on you from the broken water fountain Will you marry me??' Give me a break.I was shocked to find that this isn't director Reverge Anselmo's first movie.
OK, all the blame falls on him.There is quite a fine conglomeration of talent gathered for this fiasco: Joe Mantegna, Val Kilmer, Ed Begley Jr, Penny Marshall, and Carrie Fisher all lend their faces to Stateside.
However, when he slowed down to talk to the boys from his heart, he was quite good.Jonathan Tucker does a good job as the lead, and Rachael Leigh Cook does a decent job as the mentally ill musician/actress.
It really could have used a bit more humor to offset the dramatic tension caused by the marine's relationship with his father, and by his forbidden romance with his famous, mentally ill soul mate..
In the 80's, the irresponsible teenager Mark Deloach (Jonathan Tucker) of a wealthy and powerful family causes an accident crashing his car and seriously wounding a priest and a school friend.
Later he meets the schizophrenic singer and actress Dori Lawrence (Rachel Leigh Cook) and they fall in love for each other.
However, their love becomes almost impossible when he has to travel overseas and she worsens her mental illness.I decided to see "Stateside" with no expectations, but I found a surprisingly good romance.
Based on a true story, the situations are original and I really liked.
Rachel Leigh Cook is very beautiful and charming, and it is her best performance among the many films of her filmography that I have seen.
Rachael was adorable in "Sally", but where I thought that was the epitome of understanding Mental Illness - this movie jumps Far Beyond into the world of a Talented Singer/Actress slipping into Schizophrenia.The first few scenes are a bit confusing, as we are introduced to the Characters and set up the situation.
Can True Love survive years of separation, and Mental Illness?
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.
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.
But since Dori's psychological problems are irrelevant to the plot this doesn't really get in the way of the basic story.
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.
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 went to the Marines right out of high school and and I appreciated the authenticity the writer/director portrayed.
Just like in the movie, five young intercity men in my Infantry Company were sent to the Marines instead of prison by some very intelligent compassionate judges.
The dialog was right on and starkly honest; that's the way adolescent high school students and Marines talk and act.
I think all movies with plot developments that stretch a little bit should use the 'based on a true story' tag.
What did you shoehorn in there to make this point or that, or to throw viewers off the scent of trying to figure out who your actress girlfriend was?Val Kilmer was the most pleasant surprise of the movie.What was with the sequence where the rejected hero went drinking and hit on women with delightful facial pores and that had a predilection for taking shots of blue liquid and ended with a minor car accident with no consequences.Stateside had plenty of blind alleys like that.
The dialog tried to convey too much complexity like when the worker who runs the group home explains why the hero can't see Dorie anymore.
He used a snapshot freeze frame device which served little emotional purpose except to perhaps recreate one of the filmmaker's favorite photos of himself.What saved the movie for me were the scenes between the hero and Dorie.
Like maybe the band the mystery girl was in had some sort of connection to LA Punk band X with Exene Cervenka?The scene from the 'movie' Dorie was in seemed Bond like.Evil Dead came up in a conversation, though it seemed like she wasn't in that movie.
i was a bit distracted while watching the film the first time, thus i didn't get as good a feel for it as i would have liked to.thank you!
In 1983, Mark Deloach (Jonathan Tucker) is wounded as a Marine.
In 1980, Hollywood singer/actress Dori Lawrence (Rachael Leigh Cook) suffers a mental breakdown.
Mark Deloach is sent into the Marine Corps by his powerful father (Joe Mantegna) and the court.
Dori and Sue are released to a halfway house and become best friends.Other than a few meetings, Mark and Dorri don't spend that much time together until fifty minutes.
On leave, he meets a mentally disturbed young woman and falls instantly in love.
The radiant Agnes Bruckner plays their mutual friend, and tries to make the Marine understand that he cannot cure schizophrenia through love alone.
Lots of great period music, and many familiar faces in the adult roles, like Val Kilmer as the drill sergeant, Joe Montegna as the Marine's dad, Ed Begleyt Jr. as the priest and Penny Marshall as the head nurse.
A Real Love Story.
Greatly enjoyed this film because it portrayed a great love story that grew between Rachael Leigh Cook,(Dori Lawrence) and Jonathan Tucker, (Mark Deloach).
Mark Deloach came from a very rich family and his father had very little interest in Mark and when he got in trouble with a car accident and caused many problems, his father decided he should go into the Marine Corps.
This film shows the very rough training that marines go through and Mark Deloach proves he can become a good marine and comes home to a very cold reception in his father's large mansion.
Mark falls deeply in love with Rachael Cook despite the fact that she is a mental patient and all her professional nurses and doctors suggest that Mark stop seeing her and break off their relationship.
This movie showed me Rachael Leigh Cook is not just a pretty face..
I suppose it can also be said that every screen writer has one good story, their own life.
As he says in the DVD extras, this movie "Stateside", set in the early 1980s, is about 90% accurate, based on the writer/director's own life in the early 1980s.
It is a very unconventional love story, I enjoyed it, however it may not be for everyone's tastes.Mark (Jonathan Tucker) is a fairly typical rich high school graduate with too much time on his hands, he is involved in an incident where a girl riding in his car was badly injured, plus Father Conoff (Ed Begley Jr.) who was in another car.
So, "Stateside" is the story of what happened as a result.
Paying a visit to the injured girl, he quite accidentally meets up with Dori (Rachael Leigh Cook) who gets hit with an errant drinking fountain stream as she walks by him.
I have been a fan of Cook's, who has mainly played teenage fluff roles, but here as the troubled Dori shows that she is much more than a pretty face.The middle of the movie shows us Mark's basic training, the tough drill Sergent Skeer (Val Kilmer in a very good role) gets word that Mark is a rich kid there to avoid jail time, so is especially tough on him, but Mark takes everything in stride, and becomes a good Marine.
In the end Dori seems to be outgrowing her illness, appears to be stabilizing, she and Mark are destined to be together.
"Stateside", directed by Reverge Anselmo, was based on a real story, supposedly.
He also got good acting from his mostly young cast.We are given the premise of two wounded souls, that have to face a lot in their young lives, meet and fall in love.
Mark, the son of a wealthy man, is instrumental in the horrible accident he causes that paralyzes a priest and scars forever the beautiful Sue. He is given a choice of either going to jail, or joining the Marines; he opts for the latter choice.
Mark, a rich boy, grows up fast when he meets the bullish Sgt. Skeer, who makes his life impossible, finally gets to appreciate the younger man for his loyalty and the way he reacts to all his insults.Dori, a schizophrenic young actress and singer, happens to be Sue's roommate in an institution where they are sent for their problems.
Mark meets Dori as he goes to apologize to Sue. The two end up involved in a romance that consumes both of them.
Their plight is exacerbated when Mark is sent to Beirut, as part of a Marine contingent and is there as the attack on their headquarters leaves him with scars that are not as bad as what he has to endure when Dori is made to break with him.Rachael Leigh Cook and Jonathan Tucker are good as Dori and Mark.
Not great but interesting since based on a true story.
My biggest problem with the film is Val Kilmer playing a Senior Marine Drill Instructor....as a former enlisted Marine, I didn't buy it for a minute.
Also, couldn't we have a little summary at the end of the film (since it's based on a true story) of what happened to Mori??.
Much of the rest of the cast gets a moment or two to shine, which doesn't help a lot because none of them ultimately matter in the threadbare plot that does little but strand each character on screen with little to do.Mark Deloach (Jonathan Tucker) is a rich man's son who causes an auto accident that severely injures a priest (Ed Begley Jr.) and, somehow, causes a teenage classmate (Agnes Bruckman) to become emotionally disturbed.
To avoid prison, Mark gets shipped out to the Marines.
Dori Lawrence (Rachael Leigh Cook) is a schizophrenic celebrity who went away to the nuthatch after she started to break down on set and in public.That's the set up.
Mark and Dori fall in love.
And no, I'm really not leaving anything out.Stateside claims to be based on a true story.
I got to a point where I realized an awful lot of what I'd been watching wasn't going to lead anywhere or have any significance.The very pretty Rachael Leigh Cook does a nice job as Dori.
Mental illness is too often either overly charming or overly threatening in movies.
The relationship between Dori and Mark, a stupid guy the Marines have made so fearless he's unfazed by her imbalance, is the most appealing thing about Stateside.Unfortunately, it's one of only two things that work here.
His torments of enlistee Deloach are amusing, but nothing you haven't seen before.There are simply too many characters here who have nothing to do but orbit around Mark and Dori.
He's a nonentity as a high school kid, completely unexceptional as a Marine-in-training and the only distinguishing characteristic he ever has is his reflexive affection for Dori.Oh, and one other thing.
At the end of the movie, Dori and Mark finally break up.
About 5 minutes later, the story jumps forward in time two yearsand Dori and Mark get back together.
I don't care what kind of tale you are telling, you can't have a climactic break-up and feel good reunion take place within 5 minutes of each other at the end of your movie.
It either falls flat or gives the viewer a case of emotional whiplash.If you don't care about plot and do care about Rachael Leigh Cook, you might enjoy Stateside.