Stop-Loss (2007)
Score: 
I didn't want to see Stop-Loss. I don't like the main actors involved, MTV movies tend to be hit or miss (with much more emphasis on the miss), and the trailers made the movie look like the worst anti-war movie to ever come out. On this last count, it actually managed to exceed my expectations.
Stop-Loss, named for a military procedure where a soldier's tour of duty is extended and they are forced to spend more time fighting than they originally signed up for, tries to paint itself as an anti-war movie. Brandon King (Ryan Phillipe), having been stop-lossed after returning from Iraq, decides to go AWOL and run for the Canadian border. His best friend and fellow soldier, Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum), has decided to re-enlist, and the conversations between the two are the driving force behind a good deal of the story.
Unfortunately, the story goes nowhere, and the "message" of the movie is obscured by the fact, well, that there really is no message. While I'm sure the movie was intended to show the absurdity of stop-losses, the movie never has the guts to actually make a stand about anything. Afraid of conservative backlash, half of the movie is occupied with tired "support our troops" cliches, and the rest of the movie never says anything profound or powerful. In fact, the attempt to try and cover all bases renders the movie not only empty, but offensive to those on both side of the war argument. For conservatives, the positive painting of an AWOL soldier who beat up his commanding officer on the way out. For liberals, the pro-soldier posturing of most of the characters and the horribly "safe" ending. Either way, Stop-Loss has no redeeming values, and I cannot recommend that anyone see this movie, unless possibly if you're a masochist.
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Copyright 2008 Benjamin Wood
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