Before watching Stop Loss, I have to say I had some preconceptions.

1) It’s an MTV film (sorry movie) so I presumed lots of sharp editing, cutting through war scenes so freneticly, not a character would get to talk beyond shouting

2) Ryan Phillipe. Awful, awful actor. Just so awful.

Imagine my surprse when I actually got around to watching it! Perfectly paced (by director Kimberly Pierce of Boys Dont Cry fame), intellegent and Ryan isn’t too bad at all. Quelle surprise!

The premise of the film is that, because there is no military draft or conscription in America they are running out of soldiers to fight in Iraq. Therefore, if/when a soldier comes home after completing their tour of duty, he/she can be sent back without their consent - a system called Stop-Loss. (more here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2004-01-05-army-troops_x.htm)

Ryan Philipe plays Brandon, a gool oul boy from Texas. You know the cinematic type - great athlete when he was in high school, still thought of as a hero in his small town, loves his country, his parents are ‘good people’. 

Brandon is a Staff Sergeant with a platoon in Iraq and takes his responsibility to his men very seriously. I’m finding it hard to get across that he’s a good soldier and loves his men with out making it sound cliched. It is cliched but it feels real so good is the acting and directing of the film. There is a real sense of emotional closeness between the men. When on a mission, they are abmushed. An awful experience which leaves tham all scarred in different ways.

But it’s when they come home and the film kicks into a different, slower gear that things become really frightening for Brandon. He has received the Bronze Star, the Purple Cross and a partrige in a pear tree, but he can’t leave. They’ve Stop-Lossed him.

What could then have become an on-the-run film, turns into something much more insular, much more thought provoking. Brandon is being screwed by the institution he loves, the country he fought for and ultimately his best friend. He is left with an ultimatum - leave the US and everyone he loves to become an outlaw, or go fight in a war for a country that doesn’t respect him.

Stop-Loss is an excellent film. It raises so many issues; those of patriotism, war, family, ethics and the frailties of humanity. It’s not as hard-hitting as it wants to be, but it will most definitely have you talking.

Watch and enjoy, just forget about the fact that it’s Ryan Phillipe