Stop-Loss (2008)

Wonderful character development!

Simply Perfect

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

...i.e. surprise surprise suddenly as of January 2009 one does not find any films damning the effort in Iraq or anywhere since his majesty was inaugurated. I foolishly though this was a film about a boiler room on Wall Street - oh well next time dummy check it out first before you but it for $2.99 @ 7/11.The incessant introspection and 'angst' very heavily laden. The one thing that was true was the protagonist stating there was no declared war with which to justify use of troops. Absolutely right but again no such films since 'his nibs' took over the white house and even with the indiscriminate use of drones, there won't be.Lastly it could have been compressed into a 60 minute drama - I found the emotion boring I was fast forwarding to the final scene.

This film is never going to make money in the USA because all films and politicians have to make Amnericans feel good about themselves. This leaves one with the queasy feeling that not all is well - the US might not be doing the best thing by the Iraqis, after all whose country is it? Who invaded whom? And under what pretext? But the film is in favour of all those guys fighting on the ground, but they may be fighting the wrong war in the wrong place - and to conservative US that is not acceptable. So this film divides opinion. 'Hurt Locker' of course portrays US heroes so is going to be far more acceptable. The film has a fifties/forties feel in that a decent man makes one mistake, and becomes a fugitive. Montgomery Clift would have made this then. The film portrays a good man caught by duty and his own feelings of justice - a classic theme - well played by Ryan Phillippe, who does manage to show a good range of emotions, and who doesn't get the comfort of getting the girl into the sack - that was left for real life! The script shows the strain of loyalties and the effects of killing in a war that the West brought down upon a largely civilian population - sounds like Concord and 1776 to me! The supports act well and do not drown out the main action and character. But the film has a problem in that the spur for the action is played down too much - eg Brandon King refusing to be 'stop lossed' - and it does not want to make events too dramatic (something the more visceral 'Hurt Locker' engages). Therefore, the film tends to meander as it tries to be too understated. But it does get in several wry observations about an immigrant army, a creepy, smiling officer class, and promise all politicians. A good effort, but ultimately it gets caught between too many stools. A pity because the acting deserved more recognition than being tarred by the rabid, blind patriotism of Americans who see an anti-war and anti-US film!

This is a surprisingly good film about the effects of war on young minds, brainwashing and the illusion of freedom.Brandon doesn't return to the front because he believes it's the right thing to do but because he doesn't want to be on the run for the rest of his life. He's caught in a well-laid trap.Why they opted for Mexico had to be to help make the final "decision" easier; any idiot would have opted to head back to Toronto since that was the best and original plan. Mexico? Abbie Cornish is sexy (I've never seen her before) but she really was sexier than sexy in this no sex, no nudity film. Beautiful, caring and cool. I admired her subtext. I realized later that it was because she acted HUMAN rather than like a female. She didn't act like a GIRL stereotype or a GUY, she acted like a PERSON. Very charming and unusual.The one scene that bothered me was when Brandon was on the ground getting kicked by 3 guys then gets up and kicks their asses. That's unrealistic and might convince some young nut to JOIN the army (to learn to fight) rather than run in the other direction. I had an experience with "An Officer And A Gentleman" when I was young and stupid where I wound up at the recruiters the next day and, fortunately, didn't sign when common sense prevailed. Some of these films (like "Top Gun") may be subtle recruitment films that draw enlisters for the wrong reasons.The scene I DID love was when Phillipe and Cornish left Rodriguez and the smile on his face dropped away and we realized he was giving us a positive spin on a worse than lousy situation.Interesting that they cast Timothy Oliphant as the charming Sarge who brings in enlisters, employing friendship and charm rather than the realities of war.Then the excellent fight in the cemetery with independent thinker Brandon versus "bought the brainwashing" Steve who just doesn't get it. That's the problem with every army, they want the soldiers to be smart enough to fight but not smart enough to break ranks and walk away.

There is no loss of masculinity testosterone in the Iraq War theme film "Stop-Loss". It stars cinematic heartthrobs Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum, and Joseph Gordon Levitt. Director Kimberly Peirce's poignant "peirce of work" on the mental psyche of the American soldier post Iraq combat duty is probably the best of the platoon of Iraqi movies so far; even though I still have not unlocked and checked out the critically acclaimed "The Hurt Locker". In "Stop-Loss"- Phillippe stars as Sgt. Brandon King, a multiple-duty served soldier who returns to his Texas hometown after his last tour only to discover a short time after that he has been "stop-lossed" to serve once again. Undoubtedly, King is at a loss for words on hearing the disastrous news but nothing is going to stop him to evade another Iraqi nightmare. Therefore, he decides to win the "stop-loss" AWOL style by taking a road trip to seek assistance from a U.S. Senator to the nation's capital. King's travel companion is childhood female friend Michelle, tenderly played by the breakthrough-verging Abbie Cornish. Tatum portrays Sgt. Steve Shriver, King's best friend and soldier peer. Shriver is willing to reenlist to serve once more even though he has not completed his "tour of boyfriend duty" to his impatient girlfriend, the aforementioned "She is Michelle". The steady Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the third soldier hometown amigo Tommy Burgess who goes AWOL on his own mental state and not to mention liver by taking aim at the liquor lifestyle. I do commend Peirce for her magnificent cerebral architecture of the mental battle of the postwar American soldier. Even though I do feel that scriber Mike Richard's formulaic screenplay needed some more ingenious verbal-creative firepower. Phillippe's vastly improving acting continued to step up the thespian hierarchy with his commanding performance as Sgt. King. Tatum also followed his acting orders to the "tee" with his striking work as Shriver, and Gordon-Levitt continues to be one of Hollywood's bright young stars with another superb performance. And Dear Abbie Cornish: Simply keep doing what you are doing. I was also surprisingly flabbergasted with Victor Rasuk's sensitive performance as the war-afflicted handicapped Pvt. Rico Rodriguez. Cinematographer Chris Menges was a man at war with his gripping imminent camera-work. "Stop-Loss" was not a masterful major cinematic winner but definitely not in the war loss film category. **** Good