Following the harrowing and superbly made opening sequences of hand to hand combat in Iraq, we can feel the frustrations and the anger through the film, and we sympathise. But the film has a confused message ...
Comment
08/04/08
Stop-Loss (2008)
64
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:138
Fresh:89
Rotten:49
Average Rating:6.3/10
Consensus: Stop-Loss is sincere and complex, and features strong performances, even if it tries to cover too much ground.
Australian Theatrical Release:
Aug 7, 2008 Wide
US Box Office: $10,796,776
Synopsis: Director Kimberly Peirce (BOYS DON'T CRY) tackles another controversial topic with STOP-LOSS, the story of a U.S. soldier forced back into battle. Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) has just returned to... [More]
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Director: Kimberly Peirce
Reviews for Stop-Loss
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; Australian critics are listed first)
Top CriticStop-Loss is a tough film to watch and one that raises issues of concern that travel far beyond the war-torn regions. But whether its message is accurately targeted is for the viewer to decide
08/04/08
Top CriticIt's more a sweaty assemblage of dramatic high-points than a coherent, persuasive story of wounded warriors trying to make it.
03/28/08
Being better than In the Valley of Elah’s lazy view of returning vets as damaged and mentally depraved isn’t good enough.
03/26/08
The film gets pretty heavy handed in the last third and is weighed down by an inadequate performance.
06/18/08
...more of an artillery based Abercrombie and Fitch road trip than a concise character study.
03/28/08
Stop-Loss goes in too many directions at once, and most of those directions are predictable.
03/27/08
That Stop-Loss wears its generally good intentions on its camo sleeve doesn't keep it from being consigned to the missed-opportunity file.
03/27/08
This is an OK tale about guys who don't have that much going on in their civilian lives, but it's not the movie it ought to be.
03/28/08
Stop-Loss should have been a thought-provoking drama; instead, the crucial subject of PTSD is lost amidst melodrama and mediocrity.
03/28/08
Much of Stop-Loss' first act feels like the cast of Hee-Haw auditioning for a Best Years of Our Lives remake.
03/31/08
Stop-Loss features cartoonish lessons on disillusionment and irksome actors trying to blue-steel the crap out of each other.
03/27/08
An incredibly frustrating drama that starts off promisingly, featuring a talented ensemble, but devolves into too much repetitive rhetoric and a predictable non-conclusion.
03/28/08
occasionally seems like an MTV/Varsity Blues pop variation of In the Valley of Elah
03/27/08
Peirce (with co-writer Mark Richard) also vacillates between earnestness and superficiality, making Stop-Loss too often feel like eye candy with a message.
03/27/08
Stop-Loss can't quite decide whether to focus on making a powerful statement on a controversial and unfamiliar military policy or on a more predictable drama about the traumatic effect of war on young people's lives.
03/28/08
Top CriticWhile its slick battlefield-and-barracks footage is YouTube- and cell phone video-contemporary, its dramatization of events feels well-worn.
03/28/08
Acted with aplomb and occasionally compelling, Stop-Loss nevertheless fails to impress.
03/27/08
Stop-Loss' inability to find any coherent statement to make about what's happening to our soldiers is only a source of greater frustration.
03/27/08
Feverish yet bizarrely apolitical, the movie tries to have it both ways and fumbles its outraged and reconciliatory impulses equally
08/27/09
Latest News for Stop-Loss
December 05, 2008:
Female Directors Challenge Status Quo 
Hollywood directors have always been a bit of a boys' club, but as the $70 million opening of Catherine Hardwicke's "Twilight" attests, that's slowly changing. More...
July 07, 2008:
RT on DVD: Dark Knight, Mummy 3 Sneak Peeks
This week, we dispense with the news and cut to the chase to bring you two huge new gift sets timed perfectly for this summer's Bat-mania. What will earn you more geek cred:... More...
July 03, 2008:
A compelling postwar saga which compassionately establishes that veterans of the Iraq conflict shouldn't have to be wounded physically to be considered damaged goods.
More...
March 30, 2008:
New Feature Alert! The RT Review Revue, A Weekly Video Round-up
Live from the RT offices...it's the RT Review Revue! Check out the latest word on this week's new releases in the first installment of our new editorial video column. More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
40 Best Films of the 2000s
Last week, Moviefone offered us their worst films of the 2000s. Now see their 40 best!
Competitions
Win Funny People on DVD
We're giving away copies of Judd Apatow's latest.
RSS Feeds