Stop Loss, Kimberly Peirce (2008)

This film was Peirce’s first since the incredible success of Boys Don’t Cry (1999). Following a similar tradition, Stop Loss is concerned with bringing attention to a tragic, but little known, real-life issue. In this case, the issue is not just the war in Iraq but more specifically the U.S. military’s Stop Loss policy, which enlists soldiers for active duty beyond their initial term of service contract. The film mainly tracks one “stop-lossed” soldier, Brandon, as he goes AWOL and hides from the possibility of a third tour in Iraq. Meanwhile, Brandon’s comrades, though most of them already show signs of post traumatic stress syndrome, willingly prepare for another stint overseas and shun Brandon for abandoning his squad. It is very clear through the film that no single character has a sense of a political objective or attributes any value to this war. The film is poignant in its ambiguity and the way that it avoids all discussion of their “mission” as soldiers. There is something eerie about the fact that many of the characters are eager to return to Iraq for the mere thrill of it or as an invigorating alternative to their lives small town Texas. This film makes the point that this Iraq war is, very strangely, an experience of an otherwise directionless or apathetic youth. It seems in the film that the decision to become a soldier is, for very few, about political beliefs or moral convictions—more commonly it’s about comradery, direction, and having something to do.
When “the boys” return home, they are nearly suffocated with empty praise and zealous patriotism—yet there is never an affirmation that they have accomplished anything concrete. Peirce seems to be making the statement that almost more futile and needless than the relentless violence going on in Iraq, is the pride and celebration that Americans stage for a soldier’s homecoming. The hero of the film holds our attention because though he is passionately patriotic and not remotely cynical, he is completely drained of pride and enthusiasm when he returns home. The film makes a powerful argument against the stop-loss policy for the way it takes advantage of good-natured, wide-eyed, young patriots like Brandon but also attests to the overbearing deceitfulness of our government.