Stop-Loss Earnest But Flawed

Movie about Iraq war loses steam stateside
By Marcia Greenwood,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 28, 2008 7:24 AM CDT

While some critics are calling Stop-Loss, Kimberly Peirce’s long-awaited Boys Don’t Cry follow-up, earnest and, at times, riveting, none of them seem to see it as the definitive Iraq war film. But the picture, about some GIs who’ve completed their tours of duty only to be told they’re being sent back to the front, still “strikes a universal chord that transcends politics,” writes Peter Travers in Rolling Stone.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer ’s William Arnold hails the film for its strong camerawork—particularly during early scenes set overseas—and performances. “But the movie has little punch,” he writes. And, as the setting shifts from Middle Eastern to US soil, Stop-Loss devolves into “a soft, unfocused story about the moral strain of making difficult choices,” writes Lisa Schwarzbaum in Entertainment Weekly. (More movie review stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X