Stop-Loss (2008)

A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.

Director:

Kimberly Peirce

Writers:

Mark Richard, Kimberly Peirce

Stars:

Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Joseph Gordon-Levitt

2 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ryan Phillippe	...	Brandon King
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Tommy Burgess
Rob Brown	...	Isaac 'Eyeball' Butler
Channing Tatum	...	Steve Shriver
Victor Rasuk	...	Rico Rodriguez
Quay Terry	...	Al 'Preacher' Colson
Matthew Scott Wilcox	...	Harvey
Connett Brewer	...	Curtis (as Connett M. Brewer)
Timothy Olyphant	...	Lt. Col. Boot Miller
Josef Sommer	...	Senator Orton Worrell
Linda Emond	...	Ida King
Ciarán Hinds	...	Roy King
Mamie Gummer	...	Jeanie
Abbie Cornish	...	Michelle
Alex Frost	...	Shorty

Storyline

Decorated Iraq war hero Sgt. Brandon King makes a celebrated return to his small Texas hometown following his tour of duty. He tries to resume the life he left behind. Then, against Brandon's will, the Army orders him back to duty in Iraq, which upends his world. The conflict tests everything he believes in: the bond of family, the loyalty of friendship, the limits of love and the value of honor.

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Plot Keywords:

soldier | friendship | honor | texas | iraq war | 

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Taglines:

The bravest place to stand is by each other's side.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic violence and pervasive language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Kimberly Peirce Project

Filming Locations:

Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,555,117, 30 March 2008

Gross USA:

$10,915,744

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$11,207,130

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, Scott Rudin Productions, MTV Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title refers to a provision in all military service contracts that says a service member can be involuntarily extended beyond their discharge (from active duty) date, and at times beyond their final discharge from service date, according to the needs of the service.

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Goofs

At Tommy's funeral, the worker is shoveling dirt in the grave when they start fighting. The worker leaves, in one shot there is the pile of dirt, two shots later the shovel appears in the dirt pile.

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Quotes

[from trailer]
Passport Issuer: Here's your new ID. If you go, you're gone for good.

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Connections

Featured in The O'Reilly Factor: Episode dated 2 April 2008 (2008)

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Soundtracks

Born on the Bayou
Written by John Fogerty (as John C. Fogerty)
Performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Courtesy of Concord Music Group, Inc.

User Reviews

Great

Stop-Loss (2008)

**** (out of 4)

Hard hitting, Anti-Iraq film has Ryan Phillippe playing a U.S. soldier who leaves his final mission in Iraq but soon learns he's been stop-lossed, which means the government can break your original contract and send you back to Iraq. Phillippe refuses to go back so he goes AWOL and hits the road with his best friend's girl (Abbie Cornish) while trying to figure out what to do. Over the past few years there have been countless films protesting the Iraq war and all of them have been fair (Lions for Lambs) to really poor (Redacted) but this one here is clearly the best of the bunch but it's also one of the best war movies out there and clearly one of the best of 2008. The movie has a strong stance against the war but it's certainly Pro-Soldier and the film bleeds with love for the young men putting their lives on the line each day. The film opens with a scene in Iraq where the soldiers are working a checkpoint when a group of thugs show up with guns a soon a big battle breaks out and leads to tragedy. I really enjoyed what director Peirce did here by instead of focusing on the violence she clearly wants the viewer to see that these are kids doing this fighting. She makes it clear to us that it's kids doing the shooting and being shot at, which is something people and the media seems to forget. The Anti-Iraq stuff is handled very well and never becomes too preachy unlike many other recent films. I think the film's one problem is that it really should have ran at least an hour longer because the movie not only looks at Phillippe's situation but also two of his friends who are dealing with their own battles on returning home. The film is a lot like The Deer Hunter, a film that took three hours to tell its story, and I think that long running time would have worked well here. The two friends play a major part in the story and an emotional one so I think their stories could have been pushed out a bit further. The performances in the film are all rather remarkable and this is certainly the greatest work I've seen from Phillippe. I don't want to ruin anything but he has to go through all sorts of mental pain in the film and he pulls this off wonderfully well. I think Phillippe has always been a good actor but this film here pushes him to a great one. He really does give a strong, raw and highly emotional performance, which is the heart of the film. Cornish is also very good in her role as is Channing Tatum as the best friend. No matter where you stand on the actual war, that shouldn't keep you away from this film, which is quite original in how it tells its story and most importantly it does pay tribute to these kids who lost their lives on the battle field. This is a very strong and highly emotional film that pushes all the right buttons and really delivers.