"Stop Loss" is an unexpected film to be produced by MTV
By: Brad Canze
Issue date: 3/28/08 Section: Lifeline
Films. Rather than fluffy escapist entertainment, the movie is a dead-serious meditation on real-world issues concerning
the current war in Iraq.
Ryan Phillippe stars as Brandon King, a decorated Army staff sergeant who lead his troops through two tours in the Middle
East.
After coming back from a tour of Iraq that included a particularly traumatic firefight that left several of King's men dead and another horribly disfigured, King and his best friend Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum) are to be honorably discharged from service.
On the supposed day of discharge, King is informed that he has been "stop lossed," and will be shipped back out to Iraq in several weeks' time. Feeling he has already fulfilled his contractual obligation to the Army, only to find that nobody cares about giving him the life he feels he earns.
Desperate to have his life for his own, King goes AWOL and travels the country with his best friend Steve's fiancée Michelle (Abbie Cornish). They go from Texas to New York,
trying to find some way to keep King from being shipped out on the unjust stop loss.
Along the way they visit the family of
one of King's fallen comrades, and another former soldier in a veteran's hospital.
Throughout their journey, King sees that the lives of the people who have served in this war are torn apart irreparably, no matter the course of action they try to take, and that he won't get his "normal" life no matter what course of action he takes.
What the movie does very well is present the terrors of war. There are certainly arguments made against the policies of
the Army and government in this current Iraq conflict, but for the most part, the film is about war in general.
Soldiers are killed, maimed, or traumatized, families are torn apart, and loved ones are left behind, all for reasons that ultimately seem trivial. The film is a downer, but makes its points very well, and effectively instills the intended feelings within the audience.
the current war in Iraq.
Ryan Phillippe stars as Brandon King, a decorated Army staff sergeant who lead his troops through two tours in the Middle
East.
After coming back from a tour of Iraq that included a particularly traumatic firefight that left several of King's men dead and another horribly disfigured, King and his best friend Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum) are to be honorably discharged from service.
On the supposed day of discharge, King is informed that he has been "stop lossed," and will be shipped back out to Iraq in several weeks' time. Feeling he has already fulfilled his contractual obligation to the Army, only to find that nobody cares about giving him the life he feels he earns.
Desperate to have his life for his own, King goes AWOL and travels the country with his best friend Steve's fiancée Michelle (Abbie Cornish). They go from Texas to New York,
trying to find some way to keep King from being shipped out on the unjust stop loss.
Along the way they visit the family of
one of King's fallen comrades, and another former soldier in a veteran's hospital.
Throughout their journey, King sees that the lives of the people who have served in this war are torn apart irreparably, no matter the course of action they try to take, and that he won't get his "normal" life no matter what course of action he takes.
What the movie does very well is present the terrors of war. There are certainly arguments made against the policies of
the Army and government in this current Iraq conflict, but for the most part, the film is about war in general.
Soldiers are killed, maimed, or traumatized, families are torn apart, and loved ones are left behind, all for reasons that ultimately seem trivial. The film is a downer, but makes its points very well, and effectively instills the intended feelings within the audience.
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