Stop-Loss (2008)
Directed by Kimberly Peirce
A veteran soldier returns from his completed tour of duty in Iraq, only to find his life turned upside down when he is arbitrarily ordered to return to field duty by the Army.
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What critics compared Stop-Loss to
The blond, blue-eyed Ryan Phillippe, starting with his small role in “Crash,” has been trying to lose the stud-cherub look of his early screen appearances, and he has toughened up.
The actor - a trouper in ensembles pieces (" Crash ", "Godford Park") as well as smaller fare ("Breach", "Cruel Intentions") - smolders well.
Phillippe, an actor whose looks obscure his talent for many (check out his fine work in "The Way of the Gun," "Igby Goes Down" or "Crash"), is dead on in his portrayal of a golden boy who takes an unexpected road.
Yet his recent roles ("Breach," "Crash," "Flags of Our Fathers") have shown a new maturity, and his performance here has a sharp edge.
Peirce's gift with actors also is evident in Phillippe's lead performance: There's an outrage and gritty toughness behind his soft, pretty-boy features that commands attention and was not much evident in "Flags of Our Fathers," "Breach" or "Crash."
If you want to see recent movies that fit more accurately into the war genre designation you could check out Kimberly Peirce’s “Stop-Loss” (2008) or Paul Haggis’s “In the Valley of Elah” (2007).
Kimberly Peirce’s Stop-Loss , Paul Haggis’ In the Valley of Elah and Paul Greengrass’ Green Zone asked searching questions about the human costs of America’s post-9/11 interventions—questions that echoed through near-empty theaters.