Thank You for Your Service
Universal Pictures | Release Date: October 27, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
9
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 26, 2017
We’ve seen this movie before, or at least versions of this story — but thanks to Hall’s well-crafted script and sure-handed direction, and the heartbreakingly effective performances from Teller and the supporting players, this is a powerful and valuable addition to the coming-home war movie canon. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzOct 26, 2017
Thank You For Your Service, an involving and often wrenching drama about Iraq War veterans adapting to civilian life, is a film that teaches you how to watch it. Read full review
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldOct 26, 2017
Thank You for Your Service is a harrowing, honest and beautifully acted film about lives blown to bits and then put back together; not entirely, not immediately, but piece by tiny piece. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyChristian HolubOct 26, 2017
Thank You For Service is so successful at capturing the Iraq War’s effects on American lives. Read full review
80
Time OutJoshua RothkopfNov 3, 2017
Thank You for Your Service is as necessary as top-flight journalism. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranOct 26, 2017
Thank You For Your Service is more effective, more disturbing than you may expect, and that is very much a good thing. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen GleibermanOct 24, 2017
No film drama can make us “know” PTSD, but by the end of Thank You for Your Service, you feel as if the agony, and bravery, of our soldiers has become less remote and more tangible. Hall’s filmmaking is crisp, assured, and, at times, quietly audacious. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedNov 1, 2017
You learn things from it that should be required viewing for the screening room at the Pentagon. Read full review
75
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonOct 26, 2017
It’s a good, quiet performance by Teller, and also by Bennett — her Saskia is welcoming but wary. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonOct 26, 2017
Teller turns in one of his best performances as the contemplative Adam, who’s haunted by the choices he made on the battlefield. And Koale brings a poignant vulnerability to Solo. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 26, 2017
Ultimately, the film’s tone is hopeful. That at least saves Thank You for Your Service from being a complete downer. Read full review
75
Washington PostAlan ZilbermanOct 25, 2017
Writer-director Jason Hall astutely conveys these and other facets of the modern veteran’s experience, generating authentic drama, in scenes that play out in unexpected ways. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTom RussoOct 25, 2017
What’s most compelling is the near-documentary quality of Teller, Koale, and Bennett’s characters playing against a VA backdrop of prosthetic limbs and catheter bags, of desensitized clerks and overwhelmed therapists. Read full review
70
SlatePhillip CarterNov 2, 2017
The movie gets right so many of the little nuances about combat and Army life. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaOct 26, 2017
Thank You for Your Service is a more critical film than most in this milieu, and it’s refreshingly honest about mental-health issues. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzOct 26, 2017
Hall is a workmanlike director, taking a meat-and-potatoes approach to the story. But it fits the subject matter here. Thank You for Your Service is not a great movie by any stretch. But it is a good one, and perhaps more importantly, a necessary one. Read full review
70
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergOct 26, 2017
If, like its characters, Thank You for Your Service sometimes struggles to balance staying strong with wearing its heart on its sleeve, it makes an emotional plea in a direct, effective way. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlOct 24, 2017
It’s not always effective drama, but as an example for thousands of struggling American families, it’s a serious breakthrough. Read full review
70
Screen DailyTim GriersonOct 24, 2017
The subject matter may be familiar — despairingly so — but writer-director Jason Hall (who previously wrote American Sniper) imbues it with specificity and no-nonsense drama that make the plight of physically and emotionally wounded soldiers sting all over again. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckOct 24, 2017
Considering that there seems to be no end in sight of the country's involvement in the Middle East, the film proves timely and affecting. Read full review
67
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonOct 26, 2017
For a first-time feature, Hall’s approach to the material is surprisingly nuanced and sensitive. There’s a matter-of-factness to his presentation of these characters’ respective dramas that feels honest and true, if a little unencumbered by formal ambition. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenOct 25, 2017
At its best, Thank You for Your Service is "The Best Years of Our Lives" for the modern generation of war veterans. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Brad WheelerOct 26, 2017
Not once does anyone question the war or their involvement in it. We can't depend on big answers from filmmakers, but to not ask big questions seems like a dereliction of duty. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshOct 26, 2017
While parts of Thank You for Your Service work well, overall, the film is inconsistent. Read full review
63
New York PostSara StewartOct 25, 2017
A thoughtful drama which sags when it tries to shoehorn its characters into by-the-numbers plot points. Read full review
60
VoxAlissa WilkinsonOct 26, 2017
Thank You for Your Service is moving and unflinchingly honest — and its release comes at a time when its central theme feels depressingly relevant. Read full review
58
TheWrapClaudia PuigOct 25, 2017
The story undertakes an undeniably worthy subject. But Thank You for Your Service has too many moments that fall flat, seem unlikely, or don’t elicit the desired response. The complexities of PTSD deserve a better, more thoughtful and layered film. Read full review
58
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezOct 24, 2017
Ultimately, Thank You For Your Service is commendable and, well, serviceable. But it’s more of an honorable discharge rather than something you fete with medals of esteem. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerOct 24, 2017
Beyond its best little moments, the movie is addressing a serious issue, and it feels awfully churlish to complain that its earnest depictions of soldiers in psychological pain isn’t novel enough, or that Koale’s performance is a little shakier than Teller’s, or that the movie doesn’t have much to say about the Iraq War in particular, or that it eventually tries to pass off a lack of resolution as an abbreviated happy ending. But these stumbling blocks do stack up, standing in the way of Hall’s best intentions. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichOct 24, 2017
There’s a raw honesty here that could have benefited from a surer hand, and yet it almost doesn’t matter that Hall lacks the tools to mend the rotted bridges that isolate veterans from their home country, because at least he understands the sheer depth of those gaps, and how desperately our soldiers need us to meet them half way. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 31, 2017
An oddly unaffecting portrait of damaged soldiers trying to break back into civilian life. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDerek SmithOct 26, 2017
The film is admirably frank in its depiction of lingering trauma but too often struggles to capture its more ineffable qualities. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter HartlaubOct 25, 2017
“Thank You” is flawed, with a structure and pacing that dull the viewing experience, even as the message drives through. It’s a great discussion starter, but not a great finished product. Read full review
40
The GuardianCharles BramescoOct 24, 2017
Hall’s marching in lockstep with a lengthy platoon of directors who have already blazed this same path through enemy territory. And though he’s got some upstanding troops at his disposal, his plan of attack lacks that crucial unexpected element that can take an opposing battalion – or an audience – off guard. Read full review
More From This Movie

68 Critic Reviews

6.6 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL