If you can imagine An Officer and a Gentleman recast as a sappy WB teen soap opera, you'll have some idea of this 1980s period piece, apparently a semi-autobiographical work by writer-director Reverge Anselmo. Stateside chronicles a troubled romance between a wealthy prep school student compelled to join the Marines in lieu of a jail sentence for reckless driving and a schizophrenic actress-singer confined to a mental institution. Can the two overcome their tragic burdens and find happiness together? Jonathan Tucker and Rachael Leigh Cook are attractive as the young couple at the center, but they're defeated by the filmmaker's attempt to cram entirely too much soap-operatic incident into a mere 97 minutes. Also featuring veterans such as Joe Mantegna (as the boy's asthmatic father), Val Kilmer (as the eccentric drill sergeant who molds the youngster), and even Penny Marshall (as a nurse in a military hospital), Stateside--even with its relatively short running time--feels like a long journey to nowhere. Not recommended. (F. Swietek)
Stateside
First Look, 97 min., R, VHS: $57.98, DVD: $24.98, Oct. 12 Volume 19, Issue 5
Stateside
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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