Strong performances from the young cast make a compelling case that the US govt is failing its soldiers, but the film’s a little too much of a blunt instrument.
Comment
04/25/08
Stop-Loss (2008)
64
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:138
Fresh:89
Rotten:49
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Stop-Loss is sincere and complex, and features strong performances, even if it tries to cover too much ground.
Theatrical Release:25-04-2008
Synopsis: Director Kimberly Peirce (BOYS DON'T CRY) tackles another controversial topic with STOP-LOSS, the story of a U.S. soldier forced back into battle. Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) has just returned to... [More]
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Director: Kimberly Peirce
Reviews for Stop-Loss
Top CriticDistancing Stop-Loss from other Iraq films by highlighting an American military tactic that has been little talked about, Peirce has crafted a credible but hardly outstanding effort that may disappoint those expecting another Boys Don't Cry.
04/25/08
Top CriticIt’s the film equivalent of a weary shrug – capturing the national mood at a moment when we’d all prefer some mood enhancers.
04/25/08
Top CriticStop Loss takes some time out from the argument over the validity of the war to ask a question closer to home - whether the emotional battlefield America subjects its young soldiers to is actually worth it.
04/25/08
Top CriticKimberly Peirce's long-awaited follow-up to Boys Don't Cry is a thought-provoking, emotionally engaging drama that packs a surprisingly powerful punch.
04/24/08
After five years of news footage and documentaries coming from the war in Iraq, Stop-Loss is as phony as a re-enactment with finger pup pets.
03/28/08
A one sided look at the Iraq War and its affect on our soldiers
04/04/08
Viewers of any age are bound to be moved by [director Peirce's] primary theme: that there is no easy cure for these damaged young veterans, whether they return to war or fight their demons at home.
03/28/08
Problem is: 'Stop-Loss' isn't really about that legal loophole. Instead, it's about soldiers' post-traumatic stress, a subject covered far more effectively before.
03/30/08
Sharply uneven, Peirce's film is structurally flawed in the first reels, but it improves considerably in the second half, which documents the dramatic effects of a controversial, little known government policy on a cligue of friends.
03/12/08
Adds to the ranks of films on the Iraq war that very few people will volunteer to see, not merely because the topic is difficult but because...it's so terribly uneven.
03/27/08
Clearly, Peirce's motives are pure. She's not using the 'stop-loss' issue as a wedge to make the government or the administration look bad. She's using it to dramatize an injustice and to advocate on behalf of the soldiers.
03/28/08
In some ways, there is a grim, accidental timeliness in the release of Stop-Loss, which focuses on the ordeal of American soldiers in and out of combat.
03/27/08
Top CriticBut whatever you think about the Iraq war and the people who are fighting in it, you'll be shaken up and moved by Stop-Loss.
05/01/08
It's more a sweaty assemblage of dramatic high-points than a coherent, persuasive story of wounded warriors trying to make it.
03/28/08
Stop-Loss misses emotional beats and hammers home its frustration; yet in a week where we've lost our 4,000th soldier, its impatience is a virtue.
03/31/08
Following the harrowing and superbly made opening sequences of hand to hand combat in Iraq, we can feel the frustrations and the anger through the film, and we sympathise. But the film has a confused message ...
08/04/08
Being better than In the Valley of Elah’s lazy view of returning vets as damaged and mentally depraved isn’t good enough.
03/26/08
The film gets pretty heavy handed in the last third and is weighed down by an inadequate performance.
06/18/08
If Gordon-Levitt (who's delivered stellar performances in Mysterious Skin and The Lookout) had been moved up from his supporting role to the lead, the film would improve considerably.
03/28/08
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