Stop-Loss
“Stop-Loss” is military speak for an extension of a soldier’s tour of duty being their initial contract. It’s also a good way of describing the film itself, which stops you in your tracks and leaves you at a loss for words.
That’s not surprising from co-writer/director Kimberly Peirce, who worked the same mojo with her equally-devastating debut back in 1999, “Boys Don’t Cry.” Considering the two films, one might be surprised they come from the same filmmaker, but both have a social conscience and soulful compassion that’s impossible to shake, the former likely because, as a lesbian herself, Peirce no doubt identified with the tragedy of Brandon Teena’s death and the intolerance that led to it when he was just trying to be himself.
“Stop-Loss” comes from an even deeper place in her heart, having been inspired by her brother’s story of a fellow soldier, who also enlisted post-9/11, who’d done his time before being stop-lossed back to Iraq. After a slew of post-9/11 Iraq and political films the past couple of years (and last Fall especially, which saw two of the best in Peter Berg’s “The Kingdom” and Paul Haggis’ “In the Valley of Elah,” not including Paul Greengrass’ and Oliver Stone’s 9/11 films back in 2006), Peirce’s film (written in collaboration with Mark Richard) may seem like one too many. Instead, it’s the one we’ve been waiting for.
The film follows the lives of the fictional characters of three Texans- Sgt. Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe), Sgt. Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum), and Private Tommy Burgess (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)- who have returned home for the weekend after their latest tour of duty. For Brandon and Steve, it’s the end of their time; Tommy still has time left, but all three have difficulty dealing with the homestead after an experience that led to an ambush firefight and fallen comrades. Tommy falls prey to an alcoholism and violent tendencies that leads to a broken marriage and target practice with the wedding gifts. Steve falls silent with fiancee Michele (Abbie Cornish), who witnesses a side of Steve rarely seen before that’s violent and dangerous. For Brandon, seen as a hero by the community and military officers (personified by Timothy Olyphant’s Boot), sympathetic parents (memorably played by Linda Emond and Ciaran Hinds) and surrounding friends don’t blunt the sting of the new that he’s being stop-lossed and sent back to Iraq at month’s end. It leaves Brandon reeling, and the typically cool-under-pressure leader flying off the handle, looking for a way out.
Peirce doesn’t make a false move or a wrong step in a film that challenges on all fronts the nature of war (that both the opening scenes of combat and the mental war raged back home pack a punch is a true testament to her talent). And though her sympathies are clearly with the soldiers who fought on the front lines, and who’ve paid the mental and physical price for their duty, she doesn’t let them off the hook for the choices they make as a result of that. No life goes unchanged, no choice comes without a price for these soldiers, although some adapt better than others (like wounded soldier Rico Rodriguez (Victor Rasuk), who lost an arm, a leg, and his sight, but still looks forward to being reunited with his friends and family). It’s up to them to make the choices that will make them happiest in their lives from here on out, even if that means personal fallings out with loved ones to stay true to yourself. And that’s just as true of the loved ones who stayed at home as it is of the soldiers, as we see in Michele’s divided loyalties to both Steve and Brandon. She’s not your typical war movie woman, patiently waiting at home for her man to come home; she’s a fiercely independent woman whose convictions are as tough and the choices they lead her to make, and Cornish shows that in a star-making turn that is just as potent as those of the men in the movie.
And what performances the men give. Phillippe has turned into one of our best and boldest actors; originally just a pretty face in movies like “54” and “Cruel Intentions,” he’s challenged himself beautifully in recent films like “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Crash” (as well as an early gem in “Playing by Heart”). His Brandon is along the lines of the latter films, where circumstance and idealism collide into tough emotional and moral choices, illuminating a world where corrupted values of duty and self-service bring about outrage and hard truths that must be faced. The transformation Brandon makes from all-American hero to AWOL deserter, determined to see justice done even if it means making some questionable choices along the way, is remarkable, and Phillippe follows him into his own heart of darkness in a performance that numbs the senses to the lengths our government will abuse its’ volunteers’ trust to get its’ way. Watching the transformation, you wonder how he got passed over the play Anakin Skywalker for Hayden Christensen in the last two “Star Wars” prequels.
As his best friend for life Steve, Tatum turns what could’ve just been a thick-headed muscleman recruit into a complex study of duty to family over duty to country; his affection to Michele is unquestionable, but his obvious skill as a soldier leads him to make some tough choices when the shit hits the fan- a late fistfight with Brandon in a cemetery illuminates how the choice may not have been as easy as you suspect. Suddenly I’m very excited to see next summer’s “G.I. Joe” movie (in which Tatum plays Duke), even if its’ director (“The Mummy” and “Van Helsing” hack Stephen Sommers) doesn’t instill much confidence in this moviegoer.
Tatum will have some familiar company on that set in Gordon-Levitt, who plays Cobra Commander in that film and who’s become one of my favorite actors of any age. Only 27, his start on the ingenious ’90s sitcom “3rd Rock From the Sun” allowed him to display a range beyond his years as the eldest member of that alien family, yet trapped in the youngest body. It was difficult to see then how effective that early experience would be in shaping this talented actor into one who would mature into a versatile dramatic actor in such indies jewels as “Brick,” “The Lookout,” and most memorably, as a self-destructive gay hustler in “Mysterious Skin.” But as Tommy Burgess, Gordon-Levitt has taken that talent to a whole new level with a performance that demands that Oscar finally take notice. Along with co-star Phillippe, he’s ready to take the mantle of his generation’s most talented actor left behind by the late Heath Ledger, his co-star in the smart teen comedy “10 Things I Hate About You.” His Tommy (oddly enough, also his character’s name on “3rd Rock”) is a live-wire where the army is all that has kept him going, it’s the only life he knows now, and the accepted behavior of casual drinking and possibilities of everyday violence has burrowed deep into his psyche. In Iraq, it made him a better soldier; at home, it alienates him from his wife and risks his career in the military, which doesn’t approve of such reckless behavior away from the front lines. No one falls further off the map emotionally than Tommy, whose final image- holding his guitar, singing about the “red, white and blue,” and looking for a peace his face shows he’ll never find- is one of the most haunting in recent memory. This is acting of the highest order, and this guy is younger than I am. If you didn’t believe it before, believe it now- he’s the real deal.
Is it really that shocking that Peirce (brilliantly aided by cinematographer Chris Menges and composer John Powell) has made the best post-9/11 war film? Like “United 93” director Paul Greengrass (whose film caught the same mournful tone about the day itself), she’s a filmmaker whose roots are off the Hollywood map, rooted in the sorts of personal stories that reach down and speak to a viewer on an elemental level usually shorn over with Hollywood gloss. (Even Greengrass’ “Bourne” thrillers feel more like indie concoctions than Hollywood blockbusters.) Both filmmakers look to strike a nerve with the establishment and leave an impression with the audience that speaks to the hard truths of life in a changed world. Again, “Stop-Loss” will leave you stopped in your tracks and at a loss for words. It’s unlikely it’ll leave your memory anytime soon after, however.
