35
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 50L.A. WeeklyJohn PattersonL.A. WeeklyJohn PattersonIf the contrast between Marine life and blue-blood luxury sometimes pulls the film in awkward directions, Anselmo's perceptive fondness for all his characters -- parents, children, grunts, even drill sergeants -- more than compensates.
- 50New York Daily NewsJack MathewsNew York Daily NewsJack MathewsThe film's biggest problem is its psychologically false ending. Having created a complex relationship, Anselmo seems to throw up his hands at the end and admit he doesn't have a clue about how to resolve it.
- 40Village VoiceEd ParkVillage VoiceEd ParkStateside's real-life frame allows the complexities of mental illness and military service to lose dramatic tension, resulting in a desultory home stretch of group therapy, tears, and reconciliation.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe finely observed moments in Stateside accumulate little emotional power. The promise of something startling and compelling goes unfulfilled, and the arc of the central love story isn't interesting enough to sustain the drama.
- The film is plagued by Anselmo's inability to focus on the heart of his story.
- 30The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsA mess.
- 30VarietyRobert KoehlerVarietyRobert KoehlerPartially biographical story of a rich kid's unplanned encounter with the Marines and his even more random romance with a schizophrenic movie starlet is contrived and emotionally incomplete, and strained further by self-consciously cockeyed dialogue.
- 25Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanIf you were looking for an actress to play a tempestuous, schizophrenic movie-slash-rock star, you might go for Courtney Love or Angelina Jolie, or maybe even Jennifer Connelly. But Rachael Leigh Cook?
- 25New York PostMegan LehmannNew York PostMegan LehmannAnselmo handles sensitive issues not with kid gloves, but with a metaphorical baseball mitt, fumbling with tone and obviously laboring to force quirks upon characters and situations.
- 20The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenAn unsalvageable mess.