Stop-Loss Gives Insight on Soldier Life

By Broadside Staff Writer Ross Bonaime

In Stop-Loss, director Kimberly Peirce’s follow up to her 1999 critically acclaimed debut Boys Don’t Cry, shows the consequences of the war in Iraq in a way that many recent films have tried but failed.

In the last year, Rendition, Lions For Lambs, Redacted and countless other films have attempted to show not only the problems with the Iraq conflict, but also the effects it has on the soldiers involved. However, Stop-Loss is the first to do it effectively.

Stop-Loss focuses on Brandon King and Steve Shriver, two childhood friends from Texas, played by Ryan Phillippe and Channing Tatum, respectively, who return home from their tour of duties in Iraq.

In spite of this, King is ordered by the Army to return back to Iraq. When he refuses to do so, King goes on the run to try and find any way he can to get out of going back to the horrors he so recently left behind. Surprisingly, the film turns into a road trip filled with families hurt by the war and tragic tales from the frontline as King searches for his freedom that he feels he is due.

Phillippe does a nice job as King, who must deal with the effects that the war has had on him and the struggles with getting back to a normal life. Phillippe’s acting has not improved much since Flags of Our Fathers or Crash, but does show some additional depth.

One of the biggest revelations is Tatum, who is mostly known for lighter fare in films like She’s the Man and the Step Up movies, shows real emotional depth as Shriver. These two life-long friends are also an interesting contrast as they show two different schools of thought on the war.

The supporting cast features a bevy of talented young actors, including Victor Rasuk of Lords of Dogtown as Rico Rodriguez, a soldier and friend who is injured in King’s and Shriver’s final conflict in Iraq. Elizabeth: The Golden Age’s Abbie Cornish, plays Shriver’s girlfriend and King’s escape buddy, Michelle.

However, one of the most understated performances is by Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tommy Burgess, whose life is the military, yet is still torn apart by it. Gordon-Levitt has really matured over the years and with films like Brick, Manic and The Lookout, along with Stop-Loss, he is showing that he is one of film’s best young talents. It is just a shame that he is so underused in this film.

Much like in Peirce’s previous work, she does not water down the events, but shows them how they truly happened. Her use of handheld footage from the perspective of the soldier and flashbacks told throughout the story really flesh out the story of what happened to these men. The look and feel is similar to both the television show and the movie Friday Night Lights, yet never seems quite as epic. The film does sometimes almost slip into melodrama and gets close to being predictable, but it always picks itself up and goes one way when it looks like it will go down the well-trodden paths.

Stop-Loss is able to show the audience the facts of the war with a narrative story, without making them feel like they are being preached to, which has been a problem with many Iraq films before. Stop-Loss is all about supporting the troops, but it denounces the war and the president for reasons that are completely relate-able. The film finds humor in the pain and tries to relieve the tension as to not keep the audience stressed out completely through, yet it does show the human suffering that is at the core of the Iraq war. Stop-Loss is an effective, heartbreaking film that entertains, but also questions whether or not undying loyalty is completely possible.