Stop-Loss (2008)

O Masterpiece
O Excellent
O Good
X OK
O Mediocrity
O Avoid

Review by Jason Pyles / April 22, 2008

I should recognize up front, before attempting to write about any war-related film (particularly the Iraq War), that I have no military experience whatsoever. This means there’s no way I could possibly know what it must be like to be a combat veteran.

That being stated, I write about “Stop-Loss” from the point of view of its target audience: the general public. My criticism of “Stop-Loss” has to do with its presentation to us, the people it wishes to inform.

A group of men who have fought together in Iraq return to small-town Texas. Some are on leave, and some are finished … or they’re supposed to be. Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe), who was the dutiful leader of his group, “did his time” and was due to conclude his commitment to serve his country.

But at the last minute he was “stop-lossed,” which means he had to go back and serve another tour of duty in the war zone, a profound sacrifice for a job where one could “die any minute.” (Stop-loss, by the way, is also sometimes called a “back-door draft” by its critics.) King refuses and goes AWOL. While on the run, King tries to find solutions to being excused from the stop-loss. That’s basically the premise, in simplest terms.

There are a couple problems with “Stop-Loss.” First of all, King is a dutiful leader, and his character’s 180-degree change in personality isn’t credible, though I know this distinction was intentional. The point is good soldiers who serve valiantly are wronged by stop-loss. I have no problem with that assertion; I just think King’s volatile best friend, Steve (Channing Tatum), would have been a better choice to go AWOL.

The film’s primary problem is its one-sided tunnel vision. It attempts to draw inductive conclusions: King is supposed to be a microcosm who represents the general whole. But the film’s focus should have been broader. It should have been deductive, focusing on general, widespread occurrences that are illustrated by several specific examples.

“Stop-Loss” is a graphically violent war film, at times, and its battle scenes are alarmingly realistic, as far as I can tell. That portion of “Stop-Loss” is well done. But its bizarre story and character development kill the film’s potential to make the powerful statement the filmmakers’ intended.

Directed by Kimberly Peirce
Ryan Phillippe / Channing Tatum / Abbie Cornish
Drama / War 113 min.
MPAA: R (for graphic violence and pervasive language)

U.S. Release Date: March 28, 2008
Copyright 2008: 271