Highest-Rated Movies about 'Absent Without Leave'

Warrior (2011), Lakshya (2004), From Here to Eternity (1953), The Thin Red Line (1998), Hope and Glory (1987), Catch-22 (1970), In the Valley of Elah (2007), Tigerland (2000) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Absent Without Leave movies.

#16. This Christmas (2007)

Storyline: In Los Angeles, Shirley Ann Whitfield, affectionately called Ma'Dere, is the matriarch of the Whitfield family, she with six children: San Francisco residing wife and mother Lisa who feels the need to act as the responsible one in managing her extended family's welfare, as such sacrificing her own wants in the process; traveling jazz musician Quentin Jr. who the family has not seen in four years; Claude the marine; New York ad exec Kelli who admits she is the selfish one; college student Mel; and Michael (called Baby) who still lives at home while figuring out what he wants to do with his life. Ma'Dere has lived in the family home for a few years now with Joe Black, a church deacon, with Ma'Dere's husband/the children's father, Quentin Whitfield Sr., long having left the family to pursue a life as a jazz musician. Because of the pain associated for Ma'Dere, Sr.'s piano sits in the garage untouched. Quentin, being a chip off the old paternal block, is the most disconnected from the family. Ma'Dere and Joe's living situation is the worst kept secret which the children do not talk about. The one who doesn't know about Joe living with Ma'Dere is Quentin, who still sees him as the obstacle to Sr. one day coming home. Ma'Dere owns and operates a dry cleaning business, in which each of the children owns a share, the business which makes little profit and is barely enough for Ma'Dere to continue living in the family home. As such, Lisa, on the urging of her husband Malcolm, wants to sell the business, of which she has to convince her siblings. Some with partners and family accompanying, the children, as usual, converge on the family home for Christmas, this year even including the previously unannounced surprise of Quentin. Each person is dealing with an issue in his/her life - some known by the family, some not - which affects the family dynamic and associated how this Christmas will turn out for them as a collective family.—Huggo

Plot Keywords: african american protagonist, restroom, rainstorm, railway station, profanity, premarital sex, prayer ...

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#17. Blue State (2007)

Storyline: On the eve of John Kerry's 2004 defeat, campaign volunteer John Logue, canvasing in Ohio, says he'll move to Canada if Bush wins. His pledge gets televised, so when John returns to San Francisco - where his old job and girl-friend evaporate - his friends expect him to deliver on the promise. He gets a call from marryacanadian.ca, accepts their invitation to come to Winnipeg, interviews traveling companions, picks Chloe (she with a nose ring), and sets out. Both John and Chloe have secrets, revealed one at a time, and Winnipeg in 2004, with men and women willing to help US ex-pats gain citizenship, may not be what either needs. Echoes of the Vietnam war help them decide.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Keywords: political activist, vegetarian, reference to george w. bush, absent without leave, iraq war, emigration, political campaign ...

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#19. Guy X (2005)

Storyline: US Army Corporal Rudy Spruance arrives at a remote American military base at Qangattarsa, Greenland - located somewhere above the Arctic Circle - just before the summer solstice in June, 1979. Beyond a two day out of the year environmental occurrence which negatively affects his arrival, his reaction to which he will probably be forever best remembered by his fellow GI's at Qangattarsa, Rudy faces two problems: he is not supposed to be there, his next assignment which was supposed to be at a base in Hawaii; and he cannot convince anyone at Qangattarsa that he is not Corporal Martin Pederson, who is the GI assigned to this posting. Based on the paperwork at the base, Rudy learns that Pederson is a model soldier - an army brat - whereas he himself only enlisted as it was better than the alternative of jail. Lieutenant-Colonel Lane Woolwrap, the base's long time commanding officer, has long wanted a person in Pederson's position as the base's Public Information Officer, aka the head propaganda spin doctor. The responsibility is to include writing a regular base newsletter to maintain morale on the base. The base's actual raison d'être is not clear, with most of the soldiers just following orders regardless. Rudy's primary goal is to get off the base forever in any way he can - legal or otherwise - but in the meantime, he begins a somewhat clandestine relationship with Sergeant Irene Teal, Woolwrap's aide of three years and one of the base's medical officers. The secrecy in their relationship is due to the differences in their rank, although Rudy may discover that there is more to fear if the relationship became public knowledge. Rudy's existence at Qangattarsa takes a turn when he secretly meets a man he will know only as X. Discovering X's complete history and his reason for being at Qangattarsa may answer a lot of questions for Rudy, but those answers may be difficult to ascertain from X directly or anyone else.—Huggo

Plot Keywords: black comedy, absent without leave, war injury, secret room, jeep, disco, card playing ...

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