Altsounds - STOP-LOSS

STOP-LOSS
MTV Films/Paramount Pictures

Directed By: Kimberly Peirce

Review By: Fridae Mattas

A little break from music, actually I wanted to write about an impeccable influential film I recently had the chance to see. It sends a powerful message that is not bias and shows the reality of war and how it affects countless lives. At first when I heard it was a war based film I almost passed up my chance to see ‘Stop-Loss’, even after knowing two of the actors plus the director would be doing a Q&A after the film, still not enough to sway me. Not a fan of patriotic films, they bore me half the time and are almost always the same. Very against war in general, before I get carried away we do not need to get too political; a debate could go on for days especially in this subject. Almost every single one of my elder family members fought in a war, my late grandmother was a war nurse aiding fallen soldiers, a few of her siblings were kidnapped during the second world war where many Grecian’s perished during Hitler’s attempt to conquer the world. My late Grandfather was the political figure of the family once being Mayor of his village in Greece he served for his country in World War Two.

There are many countries who have battles on the daily, I am proud to be Greek Canadian we do have a lot of freedom here in Canada, I just wish our government knew how to utilize this mass country for the better. Not afraid of my words I have my reasons for everything I state and every opinion I have. I must say I do not like our Prime Minister, I like to think of him as “Bush’s Bitch” that’s what Canada is because Mr. Harper is afraid Bush will bomb us quicker than he bombed Iraq! After all Canada is closer and we too have oil out west in Alberta. Maybe one day when I am bored without anything to do at let’s say sixty, I will run for mayor of Toronto, maybe even Prime Minister of Canada that is if we do not have someone who will benefit this great country rather than destroy it.

Stop-Loss is a second attempt for Kimberly Peirce who directed the Academy Award winning “Boys Don’t Cry.” This film was directed and co-written by a female that was remarkable to me, the turning factor in my decision to go ahead and see the film. ‘Stop Loss’ is a film about the Iraq war; it follows a few soldiers home from their recent tour of duty trying to find their place in society. The main character ‘Sgt. Brandon King’ a decorated Iraq war hero played by the attractive and talented ‘Ryan Phillippe’ is about to be released from Duty finally after five years serving his country he will be free or so he thinks! Once it comes time to getting those documents cleared he is told he is Stop-Lossed and is ordered to go back to Iraq. One line Phillippe’s character said with such passion was “F*** the President!” he was all in the right to say it; he was going to risk his life again for someone else’s war after serving five years for oil they were sending him back to die. During the Q&A they asked Phillippe to repeat his line but he refused, a smart move on his part because he’s not in character and he could very well risk being “Dixie Chicked!” He did mutter softly “F him” in reply jokingly but not full out like his character. Channing Tatum Played “Steve Shriver” fellow soldier and best friend of Phillippe’s character, his performance was decent he still needs to work on his facial expression when he delivers his lines, it still seems as if he’s reading his lines off an imaginary script. Aside from that this is his best performance in a film yet, just a little work on the delivery.

The film is not just about the war it is about friendship, loyalty, boundaries, betrayal and trust. Some scenes of the war were extremely graphic but it’s not just a movie it is a reality for a lot of people. Shell-shock, paranoia, and flashbacks a result of so many traumas, only a psychopath would be fine. The film is well put together, one minor editing flaw that most will not catch. The story line was easy to follow and the scenes transitioned smoothly, I liked the way the characters were introduced in dialogue it was done flawlessly, good to see a film answering the questions my friend was asking me.

All of The actors did a phenomenal job in this film; ‘Victor Rasuk’ plays “Rico Rodriguez” a soldier who is lucky? His performance was good at times his optimism came across as resentment but other than that he did an amazing job. Another actor who deserves praise is “Abbie Cornish” I believed her character she had such heart and loyalty, a notable performance indefinitely. A serious film but not without humor rooted in this story which makes it that much more realistic, transplanting you as if you were there experiencing everything they did, you feel as if you are one of them by the end.

Congratulations to Director Peirce she did an astounding job conveying their story without boring me to sleep as other war films have, definitely would go see this film again actually would like to. “Saving Private Ryan” I tried watching three times and each time I passed out ten minutes into the film. Honestly words cannot even justify this film you have to see it, elated to see a female’s perspective without the sugar coating. The right decision was made and a good one at that! Not only did I get to see an incredible film, I had a few added bonuses to my left, a few feet away up against the wall watching the last few minutes of the film was the director Kimberly Peirce beside her Ryan Phillippe and to his right Victor Rasuk.

Go see STOP-LOSS in Theater’s March 28th 2008!

www.stoplossmovie.com

©FRIDAE2008™