MTV feel, narrow focus fragment 'Stop-Loss'

 by Zach Richter
 published on Monday, March 31, 2008

Photo Courtesy of MCT

CIVILIANS AGAIN: Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe), left, and Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum) are friends trying to cope after returning from Iraq in Paramount Pictures’ drama “Stop-Loss.”

Until the time comes to reinstate the draft, this country's movers and shakers will have to settle for the "back-door draft," otherwise known as the stop-loss policy. The new film "Stop-Loss" goes to extreme lengths to alert Americans to bureaucratic crimes committed against the members of the armed services.

"Stop-Loss" tells the story of a group of soldiers who have come home on leave from Iraq. Ryan Phillippe ("Breach") plays Brandon King, the soldier at the heart of the film. Because of the stop-loss policy, the Army is trying to force him to serve another tour of duty. King objects to this idea and goes on the run to try to find justice.

Other members of his unit include Steve Shriver, Channing Tatum ("Step Up 2 the Streets"), an expert marksman who must choose between a promising career as a military sniper and his fiancee. At the other end of the spectrum is Tommy Burgess, Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("Brick"), a married man who feels at home in the service although he may not have discipline for it.

While these three characters are at the center of the film, they are, for the most part, a little more than stereotypical cookie-cutter G.I.s. This would be fine if "Stop-Loss" was a mindless pro-war combination of violence and explosions, but these characters have some serious mental hang-ups. King is as heroic as The Punisher one second and as crazy as Travis Bickle the next. Shriver feels uncomfortable outside of military life, and Burgess has flashbacks and beats his wife. Without any real character development, it is difficult to fully understand why the characters do these things.

All of the characters also suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. This is portrayed through powerful images of past atrocities to recreate what real soldiers go through. Some of the film's best scenes involve walking a fine line between personal psychosis and extremely brutal violence.

The erratic nature of the characters permeates every aspect of the film. "Stop-Loss" is an MTV production, and it shows. Several scenes are nothing more than music videos, and handheld digital cameras are used sporadically throughout.

The film certainly takes an unflinching look at the way war affects soldiers, but it places all its emphasis on the stop-loss policy. This is an odd choice as other issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder arise and clearly impact the soldiers' lives in massive ways, but are never really expanded upon. Thus despite its memorable images and socially relevant message, "Stop-Loss" still feels fragmented and unfinished.

The decision of co-writers Mark Richard and Kimberly Peirce to place so much emphasis on current injustice being done to the troops is certainly noble, but in the end, it stifles the film's full potential.

Reach the reporter at: zachary.richter@asu.edu.