STOP-LOSS, 2008
Movie Review

A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.

REVIEW:

Stop-Loss is Kimberly Peirce’s long-awaited follow-up to “Boys Don’t Cry (1999).” It arrives in theaters in the midst of the United States invasion of Iraq war. As of this review we have just marked the 5th anniversary of that war and so far there have been over 4,000 American military deaths. And the troops will end up staying where they are a lot longer, at least until the next president’s inauguration.

It's a film for the present time but what is remarkable about Stop-Loss is that it's also a film that will stand the test of time for years to come. And that's a fantastic feat.

Iraq movies don't bring people to the cinema. All of the recent films about this war have been complete bombs at the box office. And I'll assume that this film won't drive people to their local cinema to see this film either (if it's even playing). It brings up topics and discussions that people don't want to even think about, including this reviewer who admittingly tends to focus on his world instead of the entire world.

So some of these boys who've survived finish their tour and head home. Some are going back and others are finished their Army run -- or at least they think they are.

This is a really good film. Brandon and his friend's girlfriend end up venturing on a road trip not for a true destination but metaphorically it's a journey to finding out who they really are and what they really can let slide in this otherwise very gray world.

Pierce doesn't try to answer all the questions that she raises in this film because she can't. The world is just too complicated. But Brandon needs to figure out what he truly believes in order to make the biggest decision in his life. And that's why this is a universal film that will stand the test of time. It's themes are present now in our life no matter the situation and they will always be present in our life.

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