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Stop-Loss
Reviewed by Theo Michelfeld
Posted: March 31, 2008

A soldier completes his tour of duty in Iraq and comes home to a hero's welcome, only to be ordered right back to the front—this is the premise of the new film Stop-Loss, and also, according to the film, a reality for thousands of young men who have committed themselves to America's overextended, all-volunteer army.

Stop-Loss follows the travails of Sergeant Brandon King and his two childhood buddies, Steve and Tommy, who have all served in Iraq and have all come home to the same closely-knit Texas town. While much of the film follows Brandon on his bid for autonomy, it also pays considerable attention to the two friends who can't put the war behind them, and can't find their place in the home they've come back to. Steve is capable and noble, but spends the film bewildered—by civilian life, by his fiancée's needs, and by Brandon's defiance; only the discipline and order of the army make sense to him any more. And Tommy is a lost soul, drinking and raging himself right out of everybody's good graces, including the army's.

The traumatized peripheral characters are more than mere window-dressing in this film about a stop-lossed soldier. They are crucial to the plot and also crucial to understanding Brandon's point of view. Brandon is steadier than those around him, which is exactly why the army wants to re-use him. But Brandon has also had enough. His tormented friends reflect back to him not only what he might become, but also his own limitations, the lives and souls he has failed to save. His flight is not just about self-preservation. It's about bringing an end to a demonstrably wasteful and futile undertaking.

Stop-Loss is directed and co-written by Kimberly Pierce, whose previous film was the flawed but potent Boys Don't Cry. I think she took a few unfortunate narrative shortcuts in this film (a couple of key moments go un-dramatized) but clearly she has a knack for bowling over her audience with attention to detail and with the sheer power of her material. In particular, Stop-Loss captures the culture of the modern (post-Vietnam) American warrior more authentically than any movie I've seen before. It cannot be easy to honorably portray naïve, gung-ho, violent, traumatized boys without overplaying or undermining their essentially innocent spirits. This film gets it right, with the best wartime dialogue since Platoon.

Meanwhile, it also includes a beautiful performance from Abbie Cornish, as Steve's fiancée, Michelle. In this story about male heroes, Michelle keeps the coolest head of all, accompanying Brandon and supporting him during his AWOL wanderings. Cornish is subtle, almost minimalistic, playing the character as tough and self-assured, but also yielding and attentive in the presence of her damaged male friends. Just as Brandon poetically embodies the soldier who has given all he can, Michelle embodies the country that must welcome that soldier home with loving, caring watchfulness.

Stop-Loss is powerful stuff, and like last year's devastating In the Valley of Elah, and the excruciating documentary No End in Sight, it is impervious to right wing Orwellian logic, because it takes issue not with our invasion and occupation of Iraq, but with the way the Bush administration has failed its own heroes. These are the same heroes the left wing supposedly endangers by voicing any opposition to the war. But when even the patriots are outraged, folks, there is no refuge left for the scoundrel.

Copyright © 2008 Theo Michelfeld