SnoopyStyle 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. She goes to a mental hospital where she meets Mark. He's there to visit Sue Dubois (Agnes Bruckner) after they got into a dangerous car crash. Sue's mother (Carrie Fisher) is threatening to sue and put her daughter in the mental institution. The principal of their high school Father Concoff (Ed Begley, Jr.) is also severely injured in the incident. Mark Deloach is sent into the Marine Corps by his powerful father (Joe Mantegna) and the court. Sergeant Skeer (Val Kilmer) has to break down the rebellious Mark. 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. It's too long to start a romance and the chemistry suffers. It tries to be an Officer and a Gentleman. None of it is able to exceed the what it aspires to be. The two leads are capable of more and the story doesn't have enough tension. The story sets up some dark potential but in the end, it does nothing with them.

ctomvelu1 A rebellious young man from an affluent Connecticut family ends up in the Marines after a DUI car crash that cripples a priest. On leave, he meets a mentally disturbed young woman and falls instantly in love. Then he heads off for Beirut. I'm not giving away any more of the plot. This is an actor's movie, as the plot is practically nonexistent and what there is of it is stolen from about a dozen other movies. Jon Tucker plays the Marine and Rachel L. Cook is the girl of his dreams, as long as she's on Thorazine. Tucker is terrific, and Cook is, well, Cook. The radiant Agnes Bruckner plays their mutual friend, and tries to make the Marine understand that he cannot cure schizophrenia through love alone. Set back in time, when less was known about diseases like schizophrenia. 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. Filmed in Connecticut, New York,, D.C. and the Carolinas. Worth a watch for the high level of acting. Just ignore the paper-thin, derivative plot.

Claudio Carvalho 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. The judge offers him the chance to join the Marines as alternative sentence. 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. The nasty and expendable part of the plot is the training of the Marines, with offensive words and prejudice against Arabs and communists, making easy to understand the images we frequently see on TV of the abuses mainly against Iraqi prisoners. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Perfeitos no Amor" ("Perfect in Love")

TxMike It is said that everyone is able to play one good role, themselves. I suppose it can also be said that every screen writer has one good story, their own life. That is, if they have had an interesting 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. Beer was found in Mark's car, in court he was given the choice to join the Marines and all charges would be wiped away after he was honorably discharged. 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. Her reaction? "Do it again", smiling. Dori was an actress and rock band member, but a bit skitzoid, so she was hospitalized. However, Mark took an instant liking to this kookie Dori, and she also was fond of 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. He eventually gets an assignment to Beirut (not "Stateside") where 20% of his company died.SPOILERS. Mark returns to the States wounded, and with only one eye. Dori goes in and out of the hospital. The two of them keep their affection for each other, against the odds. Mark apologizes to Father Conoff for the injuries, who responds with "Go in peace." Joe Mantegna has a good role as Marks' caring father (mom had died). In the end Dori seems to be outgrowing her illness, appears to be stabilizing, she and Mark are destined to be together. I only wish I knew what happened to the real "Dori."