Stop-Loss, how much would that suck!

Rating: 8/10 (8 July 2008)

Ryan Phillippe continues to impress me, as of late he has chosen great roles and given even better performances. He is most definitely on the very verge of becoming one of the great actors of today. The film itself is an emotional look into the lives of these soldiers and their families and confronts some very serious issues and questions of our times. It is at times powerful and emotional, none more then in it's final scene, a scene which is sheer perfection in it's inevitability and simplicity. Even in a smaller supporting role Joseph Gordon-Levitt shines and is easily one of the most underused and under-appreciated talents in Hollywood. As for Channing Tatum he delivers the performance of his life, unfortunately that's not saying much, I would hope he would use this to spring board to consistently better material from here on out because he has shown he is capable to take on things bigger then Step-Up. The "girl" in this film, not her personally but her character seems like a waste, a girl thrown in like in so many other films just for the sake of having a girl, adds nothing to the large amount of screen time that she wastes. Even though at times this film does take a political stand on some issues, I was glad that they didn't go full bore down one way or the other. I think the missing side to this story and to so many of films of this kind is simply this, not every person that comes back from war are all screwed up, plenty of men and women go on to live a normal lives after seeing combat. Not every person that goes off to war has no other choice but to go, it is not only under privileged kids that can't hope for anything better. There are plenty of men and women who choose this life out of a feeling of duty and take it on with honor, who are committed to fighting for this country and the freedoms it allows us. To them we should simply say thank you. Hollywood's movies consistently imply that nothing good comes from war and at times they are right, but at times like now when the sons and daughters of America are overseas fighting, maybe we should spend a little less time debating the war and a little more praying for our soldiers and their safe return and for God to grant wisdom to our countries leadership.