Stop Loss

Kimberly Peirce's new film Stop Loss, her second full length feature, follows Brandon King (Ryan Phillipe), a soldier recently returned from Iraq, whose term of service is over. His most recent mission resulted in the death of several soldiers and friends and has left many of the men in his unit with post traumatic stress. Expecting to get on with his life, the day he is to be released from service he discovers he has been stop-lossed, a process by which a soldier's service is involuntarily extended. Brandon incensed by this goes AWOL and begins looking for a way to get out of his predicament.

Brandon is joined on his road trip by his friend and fellow soldier's fiance Michelle (Abbie Cornish). She aids him partly because her fiance Steve (Channing Tatum) could face the same procedure, partly because Steve has become extraordinarily despondent at times and she wants to understand what it was like in Iraq. A subplot involves Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who after having his best friend die in his arms has become increasingly distant and has started drinking heavily. His marriage is falling apart and he is in danger of being discharged for bad conduct despite considering the army his only real family.

The film is at times uneven and avoids what would seem like obvious avenues of character development. It admirably steers as much as possible away from grander philosophical arguments about the Iraq War and instead focuses on how what soldiers see affects them. The events of the opening are ever present in the minds of the various soldiers in this film. Still it seems like a waste of opportunity and talent not to have a more significant role for Ciaran Hinds as Brandon's father. Who appears to be a veteran of Vietnam (but maybe not) and therefore might have a very interesting opinion about the Iraq war.

A lot of Brandon's road trip doesn't seem to make a whole lot of sense. He feels obligated to personally tell the parents of one of his dead soldier's how he died. In addition despite being AWOL he visits a military hospital where another soldier is being treated. There is also a gratuitous fist fight between two friends (something that only seems to happen in movies) to resolve long standing issues each has with the other. But despite that it is a reasonably interesting take on how some soldiers might feel about the war.

Some of the strongest scenes go to Gordon-Levitt, who continually shows his ability to choose interesting roles. Playing the guitar in the opening scenes, he is jovial and enthusiastic which slowly becomes more and more morose as the film proceeds. Phillipe is adequate in the lead although his transitions from relative stability to hallucinations set off by stress are at times played unevenly.

Overall, the film feels a bit to dependent on its gimmick (the policy of stop loss) and on wrapping up the story in a neat little bow. Still it was entertaining enough and had some memorable moments.