Stop-Loss - Preview
Preview by Jack Foley
THE term stop-loss refers to the involuntary extension of a soldier’s enlistment contract in order to retain them beyond the normal end term of service.
It was first used by the US military during the first Persian Gulf War but, since then, has been used increasingly during American military deployments in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo during the 1990s.
Since 9/11, however, it has been used at an alarmingly increased rate to help with the War on Terror, and has now prompted several legal challenges from disgruntled service-men who no longer wish to serve their country.
The issue also forms the focus of the film, Stop-Loss, which has been co-written and directed by Kimberly Peirce, the filmmaker behind Hilary Swank Oscar-winner Boys Don’t Cry.
Ryan Phillippe stars as Sgt. Brandon Leonard King, an Iraqi war hero, whose return home is short-lived when he finds himself being stop-lossed to return against his will.
Rather than face a return to the horrors of the front line, King goes on the run in a bid to contact a US senator he believes may offer him the best shot at an appeal. But his choice brings him into conflict with his friends and former colleagues, as well as family members.
Stop-Loss boasts a strong ensemble cast that includes emerging stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (of Brick and The Lookout fame), Channing Tatum (of A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints) and Abbie Cornish. Timothy Olyphant and Ciarán Hinds also appear.
And while the issue of Iraq has been frequently covered by Hollywood recently, advance word from the States suggests that this sits at the higher end of the worth seeing spectrum.
Rolling Stone, for example, stated that: “Even when the script slips into sentiment, [director] Peirce sticks with her troubled, questing soldiers, and through this raw and riveting movie, they stick with us.”
The film opens in UK cinemas on April 25, 2008. Watch the trailer