Stop Loss Reviews

This page contains reviews for the 2008 movie Stop Loss, which was directed by Kimberly Peirce and stars Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum, Abbie Cornish, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Timothy Olyphant.

Stop Loss is about a decorated Iraq War hero (played by Ryan Phillippe) who returns home to Texas after two tours of duty, only to find that the military has called him back into duty through a process called stop-loss.

The movie received mixed reviews, with a 65% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 61% metascore on Metacritic.

1. "(Kimberly Peirce) charts a bumpy road trip through familiar territory where vividly drawn characters rub shoulders with stock stereotypes, and persuasive verisimilitude is too often overshadowed by contrivance." - Variety
2. "Stop-Loss" has painted itself into a dramatic corner, which might be the most honest expression of the filmmaker's empathy for the men and women serving in Iraq." - The Hollywood Reporter
3. "Some have already accused Stop-Loss of glorifying desertion. Bull. The film is a powder keg with no agenda except the human one. " - Rolling Stone
4. "a remarkably entertaining movie, thanks in part to a first-rate cast and a director who knows you can't make a point without calling everyone to attention." - Washington Post

• Rolling Stone (3.5/4): Stop Loss Review
  • "Some have already accused Stop-Loss of glorifying desertion. Bull. The film is a powder keg with no agenda except the human one. "

• Los Angeles Times: Stop Loss Review
  • "...a wrenching story of men at arms who cannot find peace outside the military circle, who return to civilian life on the horrific edge of violence and despair."

• washingtonpost.com: Stop Loss Review
  • "a remarkably entertaining movie, thanks in part to a first-rate cast and a director who knows you can't make a point without calling everyone to attention."

• TV Guide (3.5/4): Stop Loss Review
  • "...a richly textured, psychologically acute film that takes an unblinking look at the tattered life of the returning soldier..."

• The A.V. Club (A-): Stop Loss Review
  • "As in her superlative debut feature Boys Don't Cry, (Kimberly) Peirce explores politically incendiary subject matter with empathy, sensitivity, and a particularly sharp sense of place..."

• Variety: Stop Loss Review
  • "(Kimberly Peirce) charts a bumpy road trip through familiar territory where vividly drawn characters rub shoulders with stock stereotypes, and persuasive verisimilitude is too often overshadowed by contrivance."

• The Hollywood Reporter: Stop Loss Review
  • ""Stop-Loss" has painted itself into a dramatic corner, which might be the most honest expression of the filmmaker's empathy for the men and women serving in Iraq."

• The New York Times: Stop Loss Review
  • "...(an) issue-driven narrative, but also a feverish entertainment, a passionate, at times overwrought melodrama gaudy with violent actions and emotions."

• EW.com (B-): Stop Loss Review
  • "Stop-Loss holds so much of its rage in check &mdash and keeps such a nervous eye on the attention span of its audience &mdash that it ultimately strangles itself."

• USA Today (2.5/4): War vs. Drama: Stop-Loss Loses Focus
• "It's an uneven experience, with some evocative moments and others that don't resonate as much as they should."

• Salon.com: Stop Loss Review
  • "Scene by scene, "Stop-Loss" is a study in missed opportunities."

• The Wall Street Journal: Stop-Loss Lets Cliches Swamp Iraq War Story
  • "...swamped by cliches, continuity problems, stock characters and very good intentions."

• Premiere (1.5/4): Stop Loss Review
  • "mismatched war-flick cliches unfurl at an alarming rate, pulling the film in directions as unfocused, frustrating and meaningless as the war itself."