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Capsule review: ‘Stop-Loss’
Still-green actor Ryan Phillippe has undermined yet another promising film. This time it’s the Austin-shot “Stop-Loss,” which premiered at the Paramount Theatre on Thursday during the last days of the South by Southwest Film Festival. Phillippe plays an Iraq war veteran with post traumatic stress disorder who is pressed back into service after his expected discharge through a procedure known as “stop loss.” In early combat scenes, Phillippe, focused by the action, plays a believable leader who helps his men through the mess of street fighting. His crucial scenes, however, transforming from a disciplined member of the armed forces into a rebellious fugitive from the law are unconvincing. His platoon mates fare no better: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, so hypnotizing last year in “The Lookout,” plays a generic depressive. Jar-headed Channing Tatum certainly looks the part of a soldier (actually built more like a U.S. Marine), but his range runs from threat of violence to confusion about the threat of violence. Although “The Deer Hunter” set a precedent, writer/director Kimberly Peirce does not convince us that these and other damaged vets all came from the tiny fictional Texas town of Brazos, and the 1978 film was helped by infinitely more talented actors.
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By Brandon
March 30, 2008 12:01 AM | Link to this
The movie was horrible. I just saw it. Any military member will laugh at the way it falsely potrays the way the military works. They act like this guy is “on the run” from the military. The movie also makes it seem like every soldier who comes back from war is a drunk, broke, dumb, hillbilly from Texas who drive beat up cars… Yes, this movie was very anti-military, and in being so, they totally demonized it falsely to whomever watches it. The sad part is they could have made a very good, logical, sensible movie about this, instead of a fictional charade, which STOP LOSS 100 precent is.
By Jon
March 28, 2008 7:11 PM | Link to this
Stop Loss will be the ultimate Red vs Blue movie, Some items addressed “a back door draft,” Of the 650,000 service personnel who have served in Iraq, 81,000 have been subject to stop loss. No statics on how many of the 130,000 Solders were subject to Stop Loss. Don’t forget Dick Cheney’s statement, they volunteered! And 66% of Americans don’t think the war is worth the cost, his response, “So What” This movie will just reinforce the opposite sides stand on the Iraq War. It will become a political hot potato.
By Stop-Loss Sucks
March 21, 2008 11:30 PM | Link to this
I thought the movie sucked. Does everyone in Hollywood hate the United States of America? This movie sucked because it was way too political and not at all believable. Stop-loss doesn’t even work the way they portray it, so it is essentially a twisted lie about how the Army works designed to make America look bad. If you have to lie to make your point then you have no point. I wish I could get my money back.