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.

I Just finished watching Stateside and I got to say that I really enjoyed it. 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.

Interesting movie. Has some real thought provoking parts. The main female lead (Cook) is shown as having schizophrenia. Usually, movies show such people as evil and people to be feared, which is not accurate and only worsens the negative stigma of mental illness - but makes for money making movies. 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. But it's still a meaningful movie.

Oh boy. Where to start? First of all, I was mistaken to believe this was a romantic comedy. Stateside is completely void of both romance and comedy. 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. Will love conquer all? Believe me, by this point you won't care.I found the story hard to follow as the movie stumbled forward. With a story this simple, the audience really shouldn't have to question what is going on and why. And how believable is love at first site in a mental institution? 'Oh, Hello. 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. It has 'first time filmmaker' written all over it. The fault can't be put solely on the director though. This is an absolute wreck of a script, written by.. oh, look: Reverge Anselmo. 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. All have small parts and try to lend credibility to the film. Ed Begley Jr did a good job with what he had. Val Kilmer however was very inconsistent. When he is yelling at the recruits he just seemed out of place. He wasn't a believable or natural military leader. 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. I just never bought into the relationship.I really wish more time had been spent in the editing room prior to the films release. The story is interesting, but the way it unfolds is far too distracting to allow the audience to fall into a comfort zone and accept the story as told. The movie also feels very heavy. 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.