Hope this movie opens some eyes!

Rating: 9/10 (28 March 2008)

I know the leaders of this country will view Stop-Loss as a work of fiction, but I hope it manages to open some eyes to the incredible pain and suffering our military action in Iraq is causing to a huge cross section of the American public. Not only have 4000 American lives been lost - and 4000 families paid dearly for the greed of the wealthy - but many thousands more have been maimed for life both mentally and physically all because of the liars who convinced the country this was the right thing to do.
There are some incredibly powerful acting performances in this film by a group of young, mostly unknown actors. There is nothing false or unbelievable in any of this film's scenes and the raw emotion comes through with the words, expressions and actions of the perfectly directed cast. It's hard not to get caught up in the emotion - and become angry and what this country has done to a generation of young men and women.
I didn't particularly like the hand-held shaky-cam technique used to film the war scenes in Iraq. We've seen this and yes, it's supposed to create a more intense feeling of realism, but it doesn't. It's distracting and makes it harder to follow the action than it should be. I kept hoping they would pull back on it, but they didn't. This is my only real criticism of the entire film and I was glad when things moved back stateside so we could get on with telling the story without letting technique dominate content.
As powerful as the performances are of the young men who play soldiers in this movie, the camera sure does love Abbie Cornish. Her role is so pivotal because she represents yet another, deeper level of destruction caused by the war - the people at home who have to cope with the tortured American souls this conflict creates. She steals the scenes in which she appears, and often she doesn't even have to say or do anything to do so. Often her look alone convey more than any words could possibly do.
This is a film every American should see - and react to. Stop the damage now! Let's start restoring America's good name in the world and stop being the international bully we've become. We're paying too dear a price in maimed, disabled, dead and scarred American lives. Stop Loss shows it all and if you truly believe the rich in the country are rich enough, do something about it!