Soldier Rebels Against "Back Door Draft"
&#34;Stop-Loss,&#34; the second feature film directed by Kimberly Peirce, focuses on a group of army buddies.  We see them in a fire fight in Tikrit, Iraq that leaves several in their squad either dead or severely injured.<br /><br />Their leader, Sgt. Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe), is thrilled to complete his tour of duty and return to his Texas hometown.  There, he is greeted as a hero, decorated with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, and told by his senator to look him up in Washington if he needs anything.  Civilian life is looking good to Brandon when he is unexpectedly ordered back to Iraq, or stop-lossed.<br /><br />Outraged at the army's failure to fulfill its part of his contract, Brandon decides to fight the order.  Instead of going back to base, he goes to Washington to seek the help of the senator.  But because he is AWOL, the senator will not see him.  He has become a fugitive, with both military and local police looking for him.<br /><br />This is the first film about Iraq to really engage the viewer.  &#34;Rendition,&#34; &#34;Redacted,&#34; and &#34;Lions for Lambs&#34; were more preachy than entertaining, and never attracted large audiences.  &#34;Stop-Loss&#34; is a far more personal look at the human dimension of one policy, rather than an outright condemnation of the war. Brandon and his pals Steve (Channing Tatum), Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and Rico (Victor Rasuk) are good soldiers. They do their duty, facing danger at every turn without complaint. In fact, Steve objects when he learns that Brandon is going against orders to fight a system he feels is unjust.  Brandon refers to the stop-loss policy as a back-door draft -- keeping soldiers after their contracts are up because recruitment is down and every one is needed to fight in either Iraq or Afghanistan.<br /><br />At first, Peirce wanted to make a documentary about the stop-loss policy and interviewed some actual soldiers, but eventually settled on this fictional film using stop-loss as its key plot point.  She may have been too ambitious in telling Brandon's story and intercutting it with Tommy's self-destructive alcoholism and Steve's shaky relationship with his girlfriend, Michele (Amy Cornish).  Earlier films, such as &#34;The Deer Hunter&#34; and &#34;Coming Home,&#34; have dealt with post-war trauma of returning soldiers, so the scenes involving Tommy and Steve are pretty predictable.  Phillippe is a fine actor who is just now getting larger roles in films.  He was excellent in both &#34;Flags of Our Fathers&#34; and &#34;Breach,&#34; and now adds another exceptional performance with &#34;Stop-Loss.&#34;  With a believable Texas twang, his Brandon registers as a regular guy who has become an excellent soldier.  He would no more think of disobeying an order than juggling scorpions.  He is respectful, honest, obedient, and courageous.  But he never comes across as a goody-goody.  He enjoys kicking back a few beers and raising hell on Saturday night with his pals.  So his Everyman is a guy we look up to.  When he decides to go AWOL, it is both dramatic and shocking.  Phillippe portrays Brandon not as a guy who wants to run.  His first instinct is to right an injustice, but the army, politics, and bureaucracy conspire against him.<br /><br />The film has great strengths.  The opening sequence, beautifully staged and edited, shows Brandon in Iraq leading his men into what turns out to be an ambush.  We get a real feel for the fear that soldiers deployed in Iraq must undergo.  Trapped in a narrow alley, their vehicle and heavy machine gun destroyed, they have to battle gunfire from the roofs on both sides of the street, sheltering in strange buildings where death can wait at every turn.  These scenes rank with the most realistic movie battle scenes.<br /><br />Another strong scene is Brandon's visit to Rico in a veteran's hospital.  Rico is severely disabled from the ambush in Iraq, yet retains his sense of humor and optimism.  As squad leader, Brandon feels responsibility for Rico's condition, yet is helpless to do more than pay him a visit and offer encouragement.  Rasuk, first seen on screen five years ago in &#34;Raising Victor Vargas,&#34; is a natural actor with great charm.  His small role and one memorable scene add resonance to the story, contrasting Rico's constructive attitude with Tommy's inability to get a grip on civilian life.<br /><br />I was happy to see that Peirce avoided typical pitfalls.  A road trip Brandon takes with Michele, for example, remains just that, with no romantic complications.  The relationship between Brandon and his buddy's girlfriend is not typical Hollywood, and that's precisely why it rings true. &#34;Stop-Loss,&#34; rated R, is both the engaging story of one soldier trapped by an unfair, desperate practice, and a cautionary tale of how government policy can betray those who fight our wars.
The movie title "Stop-Loss," available on Movies & TV, has received an average rating of 4.4 from 503 reviewers. 
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 {"Genre": "Drama, Military & War", "Format": "Multiple Formats, Widescreen, NTSC", "Contributor": "Kimberly Peirce, Channing Tatum, Ryan Phillippe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Abbie Cornish", "Language": "English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)", "Runtime": "1 hour and 52 minutes", "Is Discontinued By Manufacturer": "No", "MPAA rating": "R (Restricted)", "Product Dimensions": "7.75 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches; 3.2 Ounces", "Director": "Kimberly Peirce", "Media Format": "Multiple Formats, Widescreen, NTSC", "Run time": "1 hour and 52 minutes", "Release date": "July 8, 2008", "Actors": "Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt", "Dubbed": "French, Spanish", "Subtitles": "English, Spanish, French", "Studio": "Paramount / MTV", "Number of discs": "1"}

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