Posted on 03/27/2008 4:42:47 AM PDT by ShadowDancer
‘Stop-Loss’ tries to tackle anti-war/pro-soldier paradox
By Craig Outhier, Get Out
March 27, 2008
As a battle-tested Iraq war hero who cuts and runs when Uncle Sam invites him back for more, Ryan Phillippe embodies the progressive protest-politics of Kimberly Peirce’s “Stop-Loss.” It’s anti-war but pro-soldier; love the player, hate the game.
Unfortunately, the anti-war/pro-soldier paradox is one that rings much truer in real life — plastered on pickets, shouted from street corners — than it does in Peirce’s meandering and uncertain drama. The filmmaker makes a gallant effort to speak on behalf of the modern American fighting man, but her own protests drown it out.
Like Peirce’s haunting and expertly proportioned debut feature, “Boys Don’t Cry” (1999), her latest movie profiles a child of the American heartland pushed to the fringe.
Phillippe (“Breach”) plays Sgt. Brandon King, a Texas good ol’ boy who returns from a hellish tour of duty to proud parents (Linda Emond and Ciaran Hinds) and a parade through the middle of town. Sure, Brandon is happy to receive his Purple Heart and Bronze Star, but his primary concerns are folksy. The smell of onions on the highway.
Tasty barbecue.
More to the point, Brandon is dealing with imminent civilian life in a much healthier fashion than his reservist squadmates, several of whom are also close childhood friends. Steve (Channing Tatum from “Step Up”) is so jacked up that he digs a “Ranger grave” in his front yard and sleeps in it. Tommy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt from “Brick”) can’t stop hitting the bottle.
Which makes it somewhat jarring when Brandon — informed by his commanding officer (Timothy Olyphant) that he will be forcibly redeployed to Iraq under the government’s controversial “stop-loss” policy — immediately loses his cool and goes AWOL. Huh? Even-tempered, duty-bound Brandon? Due to Phillippe’s famously suck-cheeked acting style or Peirce’s episodic screenplay (co-written with journalist Mark Richard), we never get a sign.
Now a fugitive, Brandon hits the road with his best friend’s fiancee (Abbie Cornish) and makes a beeline for, of all places, Washington, D.C., to plead his case with a U.S. senator. There will be encounters along the way — a visit with a maimed comrade (Victor Rasuk from “Lords of Dogtown”); a run-in with a fellow deserter who’s also “layin’ low,” in the parlance of the underground — all of which feel vaguely counterfeit, like supporting paragraphs for a thesis, not natural progressions in Brandon’s story.
What’s more, Peirce’s romantic depiction of macho soldier bonding feels a bit overstated, like somebody waxing poetic about a foreign city they’ve never visited. Naturally, Brandon and one of his buddies have to duke it out on the grave of a buddy. Es muy macho, no?
REVIEW
‘Stop Loss’
Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Channing Tatum, Abbie Cornish
Behind the scenes: Directed by Kimberly Peirce, from a script by Peirce and Mark Richard
Rating: R (graphic violence and pervasive profanity), 103 minutes
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Grade: C
There is no doubt in my mind that if Hollywood was to make a realistic (ex: Saving Private Ryan) movie on the battle for Falluja. Showing the real courage, competency and heroism of our soldiers; that the movie would be incredibly popular and profitable.
They wouldn't have to white wash anything, overlook anything or be gung ho pro-American, just as long as they were truthful. One of the characters we followed from the beginning and grew to like could be killed in the end. They could show collateral damage, the tragedy of innocent families and children being killed in the crossfire. They could even tell the story of an insurgent and what events what influences led him to fighting us.
I am certain that the studios are well aware that an honest truthful realistic war movie(s) could make a fortune but they collectively refuse because in their heart of hearts their hatred of the military and the country in general is greater than their greed. Which is amazing considering how greedy they are.
“Yeah this redefinition of contractual obligations piss me off.”
They are going to hear about it tomorrow night in Los Angeles.
http://www.libertyfilmfestival.com/libertas/?p=9457
So was I. When I saw all the glowing reviews that the trailer has, it only reminded me of that box-office bomb that Robert Redford directed with Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep. That movie had glowing reviews too and it was another anti-war piece of crap. It gets old.
I believe in full disclosures...If one knows about the “stop-loss” provision at the time of enlistment, then he/she has nothing to complain about later. (Am I being naive?) Is it ever possible to have admiration for some soldier going AWOL?
I will wait for Michael Medved’s review on Friday...I am sure that he sat through the film for the benefit of his listeners...
I think it is one of those things you cannot miss on the contract, I know I didnt. You sign up for your enlistment option and then you have your IRR which is where the US Govt can stop loss you.
Support the troops, oppose the war.
So noble, so thoughtful, so nuanced.
Love the sinner, hate the sin.
Hatemonger!
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