Kimberly Peirce and I Look Out Tonight from Desolation Row

Rating: 9/10 (1 March 2009)

After serving a particularly brutal tour in Iraq, SSgt. Ryan Phillippe (as Brandon King) returns to his Texas town. An honorary parade welcomes Mr. Phillippe. Bathed in red, white, and blue, Phillippe collects both a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. After the big parade, Phillippe celebrates civilian life with two also-returning Army buddies, model Channing Tatum (as Steve Shriver) and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Tommy Burgess). Coming home proves difficult for Mr. Tatum and Mr. Gordon-Levitt, who drink excessively and abuse their mates; they are likely experiencing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Phillippe falls into his leadership position, and helps his pals adjust. Then, just before his official discharge, Phillippe is ordered back to Iraq, thanks to a (then) largely unknown Army contract clause known as "Stop-Loss". Assisted by soldier Tatum's beautiful fiancée, Abbie Cornish (as Michelle), Phillippe takes off for Washington, DC, to ask for a politician's help. Of course, there is no possibility of reversal - Phillippe must either be jailed as AWOL, or return to active duty.
Director Kimberly Peirce, who last scored with "Boys Don't Cry" (1999), really should be working more often. "Stop-Loss" is an excellent film, with extraordinary photography (Chris Menges), lighting, locations, and performances. The documentary-style "hand-held camera" technique is overused; but, there is enough stillness when dramatically required. The politics of "Stop-Loss" is told from the soldier protagonist's point-of-view; whether you agree or not, it is a feeling widely held, and deserved to be told.
Although the film is ostensibly about Iraq, and includes a convincing sequence in the war-torn country, the real surprise is how the filmmakers' portray the American landscape. You see rural and urban gunplay, highways and byways, dark alleys, cheap diners, and seedy motels. The early patriotic parade and a later funeral are beautifully shot, with the United States flag extraordinarily photographed. "Stop-Loss" is really "Desolation Row" - it is not about Iraq; rather, it is about the United States of America, during a bleak, hopeless period.
********* Stop-Loss (3/13/08) Kimberly Peirce ~ Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt