Brandon King is finished. He is done, his military contract is up, and he is ready to rebuild his life as a regular civilian. He has served his time, done his duty but Brandon King is stop-lossed.
Kimberly Peirce, directing her first film since “Boys Don’t Cry,” delivers a thought-provoking film that examines a controversial clause in military contracts allowing the Army to involuntary extend a soldier’s service during a time of war. The movie centers on Sgt. Brandon King—played by Ryan Phillippe—and his unit as they return from a harrowing final tour of Iraq to their small Texas hometown amid a heroes’ welcome.
“Stop-Loss” opens with gritty video of King and his crew in Iraq singing patriotic songs, teasing each other over girlfriends and forming the kind of brotherhood that can only arise under such stressful situations. King’s unit comes under attack at a vehicle check point, and the ensuing firefight leaves soldiers dead, wounded and forever haunted.
Shortly afterward they return home, with some soldiers on leave and some finished with their military careers—or so they think. King, his best friend Steve (Channing Tatum), Steve’s fiancée Michelle (Abbie Cornish) and another soldier Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) begin the uphill battle of assimilating back into civilian life. In depicting the soldiers’ return, Peirce balances deeply emotional scenes with heartbreaking humor to remind us that the fight in some ways only begins when soldiers leave Iraq. There is another war waiting for them back home.
King’s stop-loss orders drive the rest of the film, and his struggle between duty and personal rights becomes paramount. As a victim of the so-called “backdoor draft,” the only way King can achieve the life he wants is to leave the United States. The country to which he has given so much has become his prison.
Aside from the over-the-top Texas twangs, the acting in the film is excellent. Phillippe and Tatum say just as much through facial expressions and body language as they do through the film’s dialogue. Phillippe, in a performance reminiscent of “Crash” and “Breach,” brings an understated intensity to King. He has the audience afraid of him, enraged with him and feeling sorry for him all in the same scene. Tatum far exceeds his work in “Step Up” and delivers a powerful performance that is sure to be the first of many to come.
All in all, “Stop-Loss” is not an anti-war film and does not try and force you to think a certain way. It certainly does ask you to think. Are we treating service men and women with the same loyalty and honor with which they have served our country?
