Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 4/1/08 Section: Arts & Society

The latest movie from MTV films, "Stop-Loss," documents the troubles that soldiers face upon returning from the Iraq war.

Adding itself to a slew of Iraq-themed dramas to hit the theaters in recent memory, "Stop-Loss" offers a gritty and personal take on the war with a style tailored for our generation. It may be the young stars or the involvement of MTV that gives the film its fresh and youth-centric vibe, as opposed to the stale batch of Iraq movies that seem to forget that soldiers heading over there are a part of Generation Y.

This sophomore effort from the much celebrated director Kimberly Pierce ("Boys Don't Cry"), centers on the lives of the young Iraq War veterans who come home to find that they cannot recognize their former lives and fit that with their new selves. Their respective tours in Iraq changed these men forever, and it becomes clear that the war they walked away from will never truly leave them.

Sgt. Brandon King, played by Ryan Phillippe ("Breach"), is a squad leader and decorated soldier who plans to get out of the Army and resume his life in Texas. This hope is pulled out from under him when he is ordered to ship back to Iraq through the government policy of stop-loss. It is essentially a back door draft that forces soldiers to stay in the military through a loophole in their contracts. This policy is becoming more and more popular as the war continues past the five year mark and with no clear end in sight.

The very foundations of his life are not the only ones found to be crumbling in this small town in Texas. His best friends and fellow soldiers, Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum of "Step Up" fame), and Tommy Burgess ("Brick"s Joseph Gordon-Levitt) come home to their own disasters.

The two loves in Steve's life are the Army and his fiancée Michelle (Abbie Cornish of "Elizabeth: The Golden Age"). In Texas he has to choose between her and the opportunity of a higher rank with reenlistment. Feeling that there is no other uniform he could wear other than his fatigues, he signs himself up for another tour despite her protests. And when she helps Brandon as he contemplates fleeing both the Army and the country; the couple's relationship is irrevocably damaged by their mutual betrayals.

The newlywed Tommy falls into the grips of depression and engages in what seems to be a never-ending series of self-destructive behaviors. He finds himself drunk every night which leads to a pair of DUIs in one week. When he tries to reenlist he is refused and placed on BCD or Bad Conduct Discharge which only fuels his demons and causes his recent marriage to stall.

Continued...

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