By Katey Rich
Now that Kimberly Peirce's Stop-Loss has premiered at South by Southwest, the reviews are coming in, as are the pieces speculating what kind of future the movie might have. Normally a follow-up film from a director who saw immense acclaim with her debut (Boys Don't Cry) wouldn't get such scrutiny, but that was before the brutal reception for the Iraq War-themed films last fall. Stop-Loss was scheduled for release back then, but after Rendition, Lions for Lambs, Redacted and In The Valley of Elah were all trounced at the box office, Paramount held off.
On March 28 Stop-Loss will finally see a release, and the Reporter article points out that the promotion probably isn't what it would have been six months ago. "The movie addresses the complexities and pressures of those currently serving in the modern military in ways arguably no studio has. And yet the recent box-office fate of Iraq movies has prompted Paramount to take a notably careful approach that downplays the war. The movie is being sold as an MTV Films picture with an attractive young cast (Ryan Phillippe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt) that will lure people to theaters for other reasons."
The truth is that the movie is kind of a combination of both. Yes, it opens with a dramatic combat scene in Iraq, and yes, it takes a critical eye at the military's policies and the toll of war on the young men who are fighting it. But its strongest moments are scenes of down-home brotherhood, like a local dance or drinking beers at a shooting range. Hollywood's constant inability to portray middle America in a non-patronizing way isn't an issue here; aside from Australian Abbie Cornish, all of the actors are convincing as young Texans with little knowledge of life outside their hometown. Ryan Philippe, Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as the three main characters, are effective both in their accents and their bonds of friendship.
The film is remarkably non-strident about its politics, which is refreshing; while Peirce clearly objects to the "backdoor draft" that is stop-loss, she avoids the Bush-bashing, knee-jerk reactionism against the war that many Americans find synonymous with Hollywood these days. The boys all signed up for the war, after all, and their support for their country shows through even when they criticize its policies.
Where the film may lose its audience, though, is in its second half, when Philippe and Cornish's characters set off on a road trip to try and reverse the stop-loss decision, which will send Philippe's character, Brandon, back to Iraq. The road trip and the war movie are two stalwart American genres, but pushed together they make for an uneven tone, and the movie seems to lose its purpose while following the road trippers and the other boys still at home.
I have no idea whether Paramount can successfully sell Stop-Loss as a Southern-fried friendship movie rather than an anti-war drama, but the backlash may come from both sides if it does. The problem is not just that it is a film addressing the war, but that it's not as good as Peirce's previous work; critics will be mixed, and audiences who hear the word "Iraq" will most likely stay away. Even if the marketing campaign can succeed in getting butts in seats, it's unlikely they'll get them to stay there. It's a shame, too, since many of the actors put in their finest performances, and Peirce has a voice that's worth hearing within the oft-monotonous studio system. Stop-Loss will be seen as another example of audiences staying away from Iraq movies, which means no other filmmaker will touch the subject for years to come. Once again American audiences will be blamed for being unwilling to face the facts, when this time, at least, it's the movie itself that should take the blame.
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