Sadly one sided...

Rating: 5/10 (25 February 2008)

Caught this at the Canadian premier... Phillippe was there answering questions with the director and I was looking forward to something a lot more powerful than what I saw. The issue that it brought to light was definitely relevant, thought provoking, and powerful all on its own. The film, however, offered nothing new in the way of characters--meaning, we've seen this type of character in many other films, and they were often handled much better--and the story didn't really keep me entranced. Why? Because, the main issue, stop loss, was handled in a very one sided manner. The Q&A suggested that the director--and some in the audience--thought the issue really was played out in an open ended way, but really, it was just a bunch of policy bashing. Frankly, I agree with the films point of view, I just feel it loses all of it's meaning in how it was presented. Perhaps the cliché nature of so much of the confrontations hurt it for me as well. I didn't care about the life the characters were to leave behind, etc, etc...
Saying all of this, the performances were good for the parts. Some of the dialogue was exceptional (some... it had its moments) and the scenes that actually took place in the war were astounding.
On a last thought, the director made a point of explaining that a lot of the inspiration came from the fact that many soldiers these days video and photograph every aspect of their lives, and edit them together with music and share them with the world--cameras mounted on their cars, guns, etc---and so much of the war footage was displayed this way. Frankly, I was upset more of the film didn't take its inpiration from the same styling.