Stop-Loss

NEW YORK (CNS) -- A decorated GI takes off without leave when subjected to a controversial military policy in the harshly realistic war drama "Stop-Loss" (Paramount). Although moving and measured, the film includes language and imagery that restrict its appeal.

Dedicated Army Sgt. Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) seems an unlikely rebel. Yet when he returns home from a grueling tour of duty in Iraq expecting to be discharged and is instead ordered back into combat under the titular regulation, he defies his superior, Lt. Col. "Boot" Miller (Timothy Olyphant), steals a jeep and flees.

Accompanied by Michelle (Abbie Cornish), the fiancee of his best friend, Sgt. Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum), King travels from his hometown of Brazos, Texas, to Washington. There he hopes to contact Orton Worrell (Josef Sommer), a U.S. senator who, after conferring two medals on King, had offered to help him in any way he could.

When he stops to call Worrell's office, however, King is told emphatically that, because he is absent without leave, he can expect nothing from the senator or from any other official. So he turns instead to Carlson (Peter Gerety), a lawyer and peace activist who secretly assists soldiers in King's situation to settle in Canada under assumed identities.

As Carlson makes clear, King faces an irrevocable choice; once across the border, he will be permanently cut off from any contact with his friends and family. King resolves to go, but a last phone call home brings him shocking news, forcing him to alter his plans.

Along with the dilemmas created by an overtaxed military, director Kimberly Peirce's earnest film also examines the difficult adjustment that awaits many returning veterans. Shriver, for instance, clings to the life he knows, fearful of what a civilian future will bring, while Tommy Burgess (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), another of King's comrades, quickly descends into alcoholism.

For those adults who can withstand a barrage of soldierly swearing and wrenching scenes of Middle East mayhem, "Stop-Loss" registers as a compelling, subtly acted piece of cinema.

The film contains graphic battle scenes with gore, pervasive rough and crude language, some crass language and profanity, sexual humor, two obscene gestures and a suicide theme. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

---

Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops