Stop-Loss

By Kate Xian
March 28, 2008

Boys Don’t Cry director Kimberly Peirce’s latest film Stop-Loss is the tale of Brandon King, a decorated Sergeant fighting in the Iraq war. He returns home to small-town Texas along with his childhood friends and fellow soldiers Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Steve (Channing Tatum) where they’re left to face their demons the war has left behind. Brandon, clearly troubled but nonetheless relieved to be returning to his homelife finds himself unexpectedly being shipped back to Iraq – being stop-lossed.

With Peirce’s Boys Don’t Cry and countless awards on her resume, I was excited to settle in and be taken by storm by another raw portrayal of the life of a soldier. Instead, I’m not quite sure where I stand. A part of me wants to like it and a part of me simply doesn’t.

Maybe my problem was that I expected too much from Peirce, constantly comparing Stop-Loss to Boys rather than seeing the two as independent films. No, actually when I think about, I have been seeing them as two different films. What feels off about Stop Loss is that it feels like it’s been re-cut, re-scored to fit MTV Films. The montage sequences cut from home video footage with the hand written titles felt like a music video. Cut to songs like Drowning Pool's Let the Bodies Hit the Floor it was a just a soldier music video. Stop-Loss didn’t have that same intensity, characterization and tight filmmaking that Boys Don’t Cry had.

The concept is definitely there, but either Peirce tried putting in too much in too little space or it was, as hard as for me to say it, a sloppy execution. I’m a big believer in Peirce and I enjoy her work for the mere fact that her work is never haunted by that “feminine” touch. Not to knock female filmmakers or femininity in film, but instead I’m always excited by those who can go outside the box. The action sequence in Stop-Loss was nicely done; it was simply raw and not effeminate in any way. If anything, the female hand lends itself to this scene, as the fear in the soldiers’ eyes is clear and evident. On the contrary the aforementioned music/montage sequences are the complete opposite in execution and as a result makes for inconsistent filmmaking.

Stop-Loss ultimately was a film that was in a way, over ambitious. It is wrenched with drama but there is such a disconnect with character that when tragedy strikes those emotional heartstrings don’t quite get pulled. The concept of Tommy wasn’t quite fully pursued - brokenhearted and trigger happy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s talents aren’t given the opportunity to shine. The biggest disappointment was not getting enough of him. Gordon-Levitt is fast becoming more relevant with roles that push him like The Lookout and Brick. I was expecting those talents to be further explored in Stop-Loss but every one of his scenes felt cut short.

Phillipe on the other hand is slowly regaining notoriety and shedding his skin of teen heartthrob from his Cruel Intentions days. With more technically difficult films on his resume his roles are pushing his range. From the quick thinking FBI upstart in Breach to the small-town Texan war hero who’s gone AWOL, Phillipe is gradually extending and pushing his limits. Stop-Loss has demonstrated his abilities but in a way his character arch is rather unsatisfying and stationary.

Tatum’s characterization of Steve is the most intriguing with bounds of potential for depth. The sniper ready (therefore most dangerous) exhibits the most obvious signs of war trauma when he’s found digging a trench on his front lawn in his underwear in the middle of the night. It’s a haunting scene to see this grown man fall apart in the absurdity of a trench surrounded by green grass. However, much like Gordon-Levitt’s case, Steve’s character isn’t given the opportunity to be fully explored. Instead he’s blinded by the highs and need for power that only a gun in hand can create. Again, like Brandon, Steve ultimately feels rather monotonous.

Stop-Loss does, however, succeed in illustrating small town Texas as a trigger-happy and a traumatized America does nothing to settle my stomach. However, it is also ridden with continuity issues that take you so far out of scenes that you can’t help but do double takes and say “huh??” Shots magically appear as Brandon and Michelle down drinks at the bar and Brandon seems to defy time going between New York, Texas and the Mexican border in a matter of hours. And the Canada jokes don’t help too much either.

Ultimately, I do understand the point Peirce is making. The goal here is not to critique the US government and its modernization of the Catch-22. Instead it is meant to be a raw depiction of the scars the Iraq war has left behind. It changes its soldiers permanently and clearly not at all always for the better. Thousands of soldiers have been stop-lossed and those who go AWOL such as Brandon are left with little to no options. So what is the solution to a stop-lossed soldier? What do you do when you can’t sleep at night due to the phantom gunfire ringing in your ears, or the ghosts of your comrades in every corner? What do you do when you’re sent back to the one place where you have a purpose in life but fear death every minute of every day? Peirce does get you to the point of understanding their lives but unfortunately not far enough to feel their desperation or their fears. I left the theatre feeling unsatisfied, and not because I didn’t get a storybook ending, but because it felt as though I got no ending at all. In order for me to really get it, those same ghosts needed to resonate with me as the lights came up and credit rolled.

Wide Release Date: March 28, 2008
Running Time: 1 hour, 53 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Kimberly Peirce
Producers: Gregory Goodman, Kimberly Peirce, Mark Roybal, and Scott Rudin
Executive Producers: Pamela Abdy and Alli Shearmur
Music: John Powell
Screenplay: Kimberly Peirce and Mark Richard
Director of Photography: Chris Menges
Editor: Claire Simpson