Different Looks at Battlefield Fatigue and Down Time At Home

Rating: 7/10 (3 March 2013)

I enjoy making up "double-bill" evening nights with films that match in some way--both versions of The Maltese Falcon, for instance, or two films about pianists. An evening spent watching both Stop-Loss and The Hurt Locker comparing their strengths and weakness was fascinating,comparing brilliant and committed performances from the two lead actors, Ryan Phillippe and Jeremy Remmer. The latter film seems to center on the kind of man who is addicted to war and does his job well, but Peirce's film shows a bright young man from Texas who experiences some brutal battle, has done his time, and then is called back, simply because the war is eating up the other volunteers. It is curious that what was once a strictly male director's province, i.e., war films, has been usurped by two women: both Peirce and Kathleen Bigelow delve deeply into the male experience of battle, the former also connecting with what the people back home are feeling and experiencing. Both films question the validity of war from different viewpoints, and while not luridly political, deliver some scathing commentary on its effects on the human mind; while Stop-Loss is no Paths of Glory, it is effective story-telling, perhaps enlightening viewers clueless about those who are shipped overseas more than once.