Perhaps more suited to TV, but a good movie all the same!

Rating: 8/10 (29 March 2008)

After watching "Stop-Loss," I noticed later in the day a commercial for it which indicated that this was produced by MTV films or something like that. I thought this was appropriate because while I watched "Stop-Loss," I couldn't help but notice that this film really would've worked better on the small screen.
Ryan Phillippe plays the role of Brandon King, a young soldier who, after having served on over 150 missions in Iraq and seen the deaths of both the men under his command and civilians, is excited about the prospect of returning home after having done his duty for his country.
While turning in his gear and filing his paperwork, he is informed that he is to be shipped back to Iraq: although he has done his time and served his country, his Commander in Chief has the explicit right to unilaterally extend his tour without his knowledge or authorization.
Of course this isn't the only thing going on while the soldiers are back in the USA. Tommy Burgess (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) finds himself constantly in trouble as he battles alcohol addiction. Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum), Brandon's best friend, returns to his girlfriend and assaults her while digging in a fox hole on their front lawn and arming himself with a handgun mere feet from a road where pedestrians and vehicles pass by.
It is on this level that I believe "Stop-Loss" ultimately fails. In the motion picture format, this story has to be constricted into 90 or 120 minutes, and as a result the focus is almost exclusively on Brandon. His outrage at having to report back to Iraq; his odyssey in traveling to meet a Senator who he thinks will help him get out; his coming into contact with many other Stop-Loss victims; his decision first to head for Canada, then Mexico, before he ultimately decides that he has to return to the military.
In the duration of the story, Steve goes from unstable to willing re-enlisting, though there's no perspective on this. As Tommy's life disintegrates, Steve tries to guilt Brandon into returning. Tommy is ultimately discharged, and commits suicide: the tragedy is effective, however without really allowing us to witness the back story here of the other characters, there is an artificial melodrama feel to it! I also must admit that, after initially feeling sympathy for Steve's precarious mental stability, I began to really dislike him in this story. He hits his girlfriend and really never apologizes for it- he merely says he couldn't remember it. He over and over again judges and tries to guilt Brandon into abandoning what he feels is justice, and then when Brandon comes to Tommy's grave to pay his respects, Steve assaults him! Steve has re-enlisted because he wanted to be a sniper where he could hit his targets from further away and be in less danger- he does this and ultimately sacrifices his fiancée (he never discussed it with her), and still at the end has the nerve to, when Brandon seems to extend the olive branch, seem rather indifferent.
I recommend the film rather strongly, but I feel like if it had been a TV movie, it would've really been something special!